


^ETH0DS0FTEACH1 

IN 

P^TEN CITIES 



J 



ST.PAULtS 
CHICAGO?^ 
CLEVELAND 

KANSAS CnY 
WASHINGTON 
BOSTONeS 

NEW- HAVEN 

BROOKLYN 

BIRMING- 

HAMtS 



POUS 



aX?i. 



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EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING CO 




C}assL£jiL2_i 
Book J<J_ 



JO 



COP^'RIGHT DEPOSIT. 



TEACHING 



READING IN TEN CITIES 



EDITED BY 

EVA D. KELLOGG 
Editor of Primary Education 



c^^^ 



EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 
BOSTON 

New York Chicago San Francisco 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies rteceivcd 

MAR 7 1905 

COPY 8. 



V^ 



.4> 



4? 



Copyrighted 

By EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1900 



INTRODUCTION. 

Perhaps no plan for helping teachers through an educational 
journal has ever been a greater success than the series of " Teach- 
ing Reading in Ten Cities," which appeared last year in Primary 
Education. Everybody who is responsible for the teaching of 
little children is keenly interested in the problem of teaching them 
to read. The ways are numerous. The results record every shade 
of satisfaction and dissatisfaction known to teachers. Rumors of 
what was being done in this branch of instruction in other schools 
reached the teachers ; but they could not go and see for them- 
selves. For this reason the work of the primary schools in ten 
leading cities of the Union was brought to them by means of this 
valuable series, prepared either by the primary supervisor or a 
leading teacher in each locality. The scheme became popular at 
once. Here was a chance to visit other schools and compare notes 
without leaving their own work. Many school principals used each 
instalment as it appeared as the text for a teachers' meeting for the 
study of teaching youngest children to read. The ten articles 
cover every prominent method or system for teaching reading to 
beginners now in use in our public schools, and primary teachers 
have found in them the help, the breadth, and the inspiration that 
the series was designed to give. 

It. is a happy thought of the publishers of Primary Education 
to arrange these articles in book form for more convenient use and 
quick reference by teachers. May the new readers appreciate 
them as much as did the first, and may the first enjoy them all 
over again. Eva D. Kellogg. 

Editor of Primary Education. 
Boston, 1900. 

4 



CONTENTS. 



I- PAGE 

How Reading is Tauoht in St. Paul ...... 7 

II. 

How Reading is Taught in Boston . . . . . . 24 

III. 

How Reading is Taught in Indianapolis ..... ^9 

How Reading is Taught in Brooklyn, N. Y. .... 40 

V. 

How Reading is Taught in Kansas City ..... 54 

VI. 
How Reading is Taught in Chicago ...... 60 

VII 

How Reading is Taught in Washington, I). C. . . . . . 65 

VIII. 
How Reading is Taught in New Haven, Conn. ... 75 

IX. 

How Reading is Taught in Cleveland, Ohio .... 84 

X. 

How Reading is Taught in the Birmingham (Ala.) Schools . . 96 



TEACHING READING IN TEN CITIES 



HOW READING IS TAUGHT IN ST. PAUL 

Sarah C. Brooks. 

Supervisor of Priinnry Schools of St. Paul, Minn. 

Learning to read involves so many processes and is of 
so complicated a character, that under the best of circum- 
stances it requires the outlay of much time and energy. It 
calls for the training of the eye in recognizing, the vocal 
organs, — and incidentally, the hand, — in reproducing 
written and printed foi-m. Training of the ear is also in- 
cidentally involved in the same processes. Memory must 
hold the results attained, and imagination must be exercised 
in the effort to clothe dull form with spii'it and life. Upon 
sense training depends quickness of impression; upon 
muscular training, exactness; upon memory, permanency of 
attainment; and upon imagination, the dramatic fire neces- 
sary to comprehension and to beauty of expression. 

If, " by reason of strength " on the part of the child, 
and intelligent guidance on the part of teachers, he masters 
the mechanics of reading in three years, so that at the end 
of that period he is reasonably well equipped foi- independ- 
ent reading we consider the time well spent. 

7 



Learning- to read involves all methods known to man 
and cannot be accomplished by any one alone. The word 
is of little value nntil combined with others to form a sen- 
tence. The independent acquisition of new words is limited 
without a working knowledge of the few laws of pronun- 
ciation. Hence, when one inquires by what method I teach 
reading, I naturally infer the questionei- desires to know 
how I begin the teaching of reading. 

A system of schools is somewhat more complicated 
than the process of learning to read, and so long as indi- 
vidual tastes, attainments and judgments diflfer, there will 
be differences of opinions regarding method. It would be a 
remarkable coincidence indeed, if all the primary teachers 
of a city should have but one opinion concerning so im- 
portant a matter as that of teaching reading to beginnei's. 

There is, however, in all cities an earnest and 
studious body of teachers Avhose investigations and discus- 
sions lead them to accept one theory as a working basis of 
instruction, subject, of course, to variations in the matter of 
detail. It is such a body of students as this, whose views I 
shall now endeavor to present. The vagaries, if any, must 
be attributed to me; the practical ai-rangement to them. 

Selection of Method. 

In the kindergarten the child works as h? plays and 
plays as he works. In all the exercises of the day he is at 
his best because instruction, if such it may be named with- 
out giving offence, follows the line of interest and its 
reaction in expression, that of his natural activities. He 
plays himself into many valuable experiences, and gives 
form to thought by his own ci'eative activity. The lines of 
interest and natural activities ai-e the lines of least resist- 

8 



ance, and ai-o tlierefoi-e the most practical because the most 
effective hues for instruction to follow. 

From some such observations as the above, arose the 
following conclusions : 

The child naturally thiid<s in sentences. He prefers a 
whole of thought. AVhen giving expression to something 
of interest, he speaks without hesitation, and with the best 
of expression. In the use of the sentence he is afforded 
practice in the use of good form which should, later, aid 
him in composition. But above all these considerations is 
the fjict that, latei-, in reading for his own profit or amuse- 
ment, he must interpret whole sentences and grasp the 
thought of many sentences in succession, and with great 
rapidity. 

We have decided to begin the teaching of reading-by 
using the sentence as the unit, because we believe this 
method to be the one which will prove to be of the greatest 
practical service to him in the future. 

Sources of Lessons. 

The reader is reserved for use later, when the child has 
acquired a written and printed vocabulary of at least a 
hundi-ed words, and the list should be much greater. 
From too early use of the book arises that familiarity which 
breeds contempt shown in the fi-ayed edges and chewed 
tops, which speak eloquently of soul weariness on the part 
of its owner. 

The book, used before the necessary preparation has 
been made, tends to bring about that quality of memoiy 
work which is an enemy to real progress, and which is the 
cause of a parent's remarking with pride, " If you show him 
the picture, he can read the whole lesson fr<jm l)e^nnninf»- to 

9 



end." So clever and so natui-al is this trick of remembering 
by association with place that it sometimes deceives even 
the elect. A too early use of the book is in danger of con- 
verting the exercise of reading into a desjjerate fingei'-to- 
form contest with words, in which the book rises higher as 
excitement increases until the i-esult is that sorrowful and 
total eclipse of the son which we have all witnessed at one 
time or another. The voice also rises to the occasion, and 
naturalness of expression is impossible. 

Our early lessons in reading attempt to follow the lines 
of the least resistance by having their source in the child's 
physical activities and his natural interests. Of the latter, 
thei'e are two, possibly three, although the third is intimately 
related to the other two. 

1. His pets and all nature. 

2. Literature, including songs. 

3. Pictures. 

Order. 

These lessons are brief, the sentences usually short. 
They follow observation, investigation, action, or narration; 
and are usually the result of the pupil's efforts to tell Avhat 
has been discovei'ed or to reproduce the stoi-y. 

HOAV Obtaini^i). 

Take first those lessons based upon action, a class of 
lessons which have not hitherto received the consideration 
due to the important place they fill in the natural evolution 
of the reading lesson. 

Suppose the pupils to be intei-ested in the names and 
characteristics of objects, as introductory to the study of 
di-awing or number. The teacher says " Find the cube, 

10 



Mary," and at the same time writes the sentence npon the 
board. Whenever this i-eqnest is made, the same is written 
upon the board, with no change but that of the child's 
name. Again she requests and writes: 

Find the sphere. Push the cylinder. 

Roll the sphere. Roll the cylinder. 

Push the cube. Hold the ball. 

Find the cylinder. Throw the ball. 

These sentences evolved gradually and with care, come 
in time to take the place of the spoken request. When 
written upon the board with the child's name, that pupil 
immediately proceeds to do as requested, having silently 
read as the teacher wrote upon the board. A paper or 
curtain covers the work as soon as written and is a valuable 
piece of furniture, after the work is faii-ly started, because 
it compels instant and continuous attention. The same 
result may also be obtained by erasing the sentence, but 
there is the objection of chalk dust and the teacher's time. 

I have frequently seen a whole room held for ten or 
fifteen minutes without any evidence of weai-iness or loss of 
attention. If held foi- ten minutes, and immediately rested 
by entii'e change of work, numbers of such lessons may be 
given through the day, with mutual pleasui-e and profit; 
and the results in growth and power to attend, to compi-e- 
hend and to act with cheerful promptness, is most gratify- 
ing. In a word, "it pays." 

The above order of exercises may be varied by having 
one pupil read what is written, calling upon some other 
child to perform the act. But oral recitation comes more 
naturally in connection with nature study, where the objects 

for observation may be children's pets, iauiiliar animals 

11 



that may be kept in the school-room for a short time, or 
specimens of plant life. In ftict, the year's work in nature 
study includes all these. These lessons follow observation, 
and are the result of the pupils' efforts to tell what they 
observe. They are obtained either by requests from the 
teacher to various children to tell what has been individu- 
ally discovered, or by questions on the part of the teacher, 
with the intention of formulating the observations of 
the whole class after the children have had the oppor- 
tunity of announcing individual discoveries. Each plan 
has its value, and should receive due attention. The first 
should not be followed so far as to bring about neglect of 
orderly arrangement. The second should not be permitted 
to interfere with interest and spontaneity. Suppose a case, 
again. 

The Pigeon. 

Query: How does the pigeon move from place to 
place ? 

Answers in whole sentences which are written upon 
the board: 

The pigeon flies. 

The pigeon walks. 

It moves its head when it walks. 

It runs. 

Different members of the class may be called upon to 
read the sentence, line, ■' story," given by some one child, 
and find where it is written upon the board. It is a good 
thing to ])roceed in the order in which these sentences were 
first given ; and it is also necessary that the sentences are 
few in number, as the recognition at first is vague. 

12 



Another plan is to erase, or to pass to some other part 
of the board and write the sentences again, calhng npon 
the same children to repeat them, and writing in the same 
order as given at first. 

At the next recitation, these discoveries are again 
recorded and i-ead, and additions made by telling what the 
pigeon eats: 

The pigeon eats corn. 
It eats oats. 

It eats crumbs of bread. 
It drinks water. 

Another series of sentences may follow, telling what 
else the pigeon does : 

The pigeon coos. 

It bathes. 

It perches. 

It lives in a pigeon house. 

From action to organ is but a step, and other lessons 
follow recording: 

The pigeon has pink feet. 

It has large wings. 

It has a strong bill. 

It has a coat of feathers. 

These sentences are made familiar by presentation 
from day to day, as suggested above, and the pupils them- 
selves annoimce the moment when the sentence has served 
its purpose as a unit. Some one announces, "Three of the 
stories begin the same way," and proceeds to show which 
three. Others find distinguishing characteristics, as flies, 

13 



walks, I'uns; ))ink feet, large Aviiif^s, a strong bill; and 
these words and phrases form the true 

Basis or Drill. 

As their discoveries are heralded, they are written 
upon the boaril by the teacher to be recognized by the 
whole class, and rediscovered in the sentences. From the 
very first of these exercises it is a good thing to give 
prominence to the phrase because of its importance in both 
reading and language; and •'' the '' and "a" should never 
be separated from their nouns. Many among even thought- 
ful teachers urge the necessity of a dissolution here; but 
'^ I have been young and now am old " without once in all 
these years having i-eceived suificient convincing testimony 
to cause me to waver in my opinion. The apparent neces- 
sity arises from the neglect of some step in development. 

Spelling. 

The first spelling exercises are based upon these words 
and phrases. Pupils observe while the teacher writes one 
or the other. She then erases, and pupils pass to the board 
to imitate the form. This is done with varying degrees of 
success. de|)endent upon the development of sight and 
manual dexterity. Children who have received careful 
kindergarten training are much stronger in this respect 
than those who have not. 

If a mistake is made by some one child, the teacher 
erases his Avork, rewrites the word carefully, erases her 
work and requests the child to try again. If a number of 
pupils fail, all erase, watch the Avord or phrase written once 
more, and then have another trial. A word or two is suflS- 

cient for the first few lessons. The pupils, upon being 

u 



seated are asked to write these from memory while another 
class recites. As skill and memory improve, the list is 
gradually increased, with truly commendable results in the 
course of a term. All work is, of course, carefully in- 
spected, and individual cases of special aptitude or the 
reverse, g-iven the advancement or aid required. 

From Script to Print. 

Soon the wi'itten spelling- from memory is varied by 
the use of dissected alphabets; the words painted upon the 
disks as a change from the exacting use of the pencil. 
Not only words and phrases, but whole sentences are re- 
produced with the aid of these alphabets, and the work is 
gi'eatly enjoyed by the children. 

A step between might well be made by the use of 
printed words to be arranged into sentences, but we have 
never been rich enough to supply sufficient material for 
general use. The teachei's, by the aid of hektographs, 
usually supply themselves with the written words for seat 
work earlier in the term. 

Preparation for Readers. 

It will be observed that in the previous suggested 
lessons, the sentences have been short, and those familiar 
with the work know that they tend to a sameness of tone 
in reading which is in danger of wearying the listener. 
This tendency is counteracted in part by encouraging 
pupils to aid in uniting two or more thoughts into one 
sentence. This union brings about three results, which I 
name in their order of difficulty: 

First, the compound sentence, as " The cube has many 
edges and many corners." 

15 



Second, the same foi'iii of sentence containing a series 
of words, as, " The pigeon eats corn, oats and crumbs of 
bread." 

Thirds the complex sentence, without the mastery of 
which, the paragraph in the latter half of the first reader, 
and from thence tln-ough the second and third readers, 
must ever i-emain " a stone of stumbling," and '''" the rock of 
offence/' All these evolutions need not be visited upon the 
children in f|uick succession; but as occasion requires the 
work must be done if the highest reading results are to be 
obtained. 

There must also -be furnished the child some means of 
becoming acquainted with sentences containing the narra- 
tive style, as opposed to the direct statement, which is 
characteristic of descriptive woi-k in nature study. This 
aid is supplied through the medium of 

Literature, 

which is in form a corrective of over-indulgence in the 
simple sentence in language as it is the supplement in point 
of interest to nature in the heart of the child. The stories 
of the squirrel, of the Pilgrims, of Christmas, of patriotism, 
of Easter, common to most primary schools, are converted 
by pupils and teachers into I'eading lessons of great interest 
as well as pi'ofit, and this, too, at a time when nature sleeps 
in its transition from activity to activity. The process is 
familiar to all, and requires no explanation here. 

Leaflets. 

The first lessons in print are put into the children's 
hands in the form of leaflets, and have for their subjects the 
topics in nature study and literatui'e. While w^restling 

16 



with the comparatively iinfamihar niediuin of print, these 
leaflets are a more convenient material to handle than a 
book; and arising from the child's experience are, at this 
stage, of more interest, thus directly aiding- in expression. 
Here, as elsewhere in the work of the first year, no 
child is permitted to read a sentence which he has not first 
read silently. When the thought is gi-asped, it is an easy 
matter to give the same readily and with a sweet and 
natural manner. 

YOCABULAKY. 

The niuiiber and character of words thus acquired in 
the space of two or three months should be compared with 
that found upon the first twenty or thirty pages of the 
reader to be used by the class, and such adjustments made 
as will smooth the way foi- an enjoyable reading of those 
pages. A few preliminary lessons will then do away with 
any difficulty which might otherwise arise at this point. 

It must be noted that the list of words employed 
during these first months are not all of a character to be 
rendered permanent by use. Some serve a special purpose 
in one or two lessons, and drop out of consciousness later 
because their use is not again required. Those which are 
in common use from day to day, after once being filled with 
meaning, nuist remain in memory. When dependent for 
permanency upon the eternal grind of drill, the time might 
l)e better occupied with other matters. 

It is something of an attainment to pronounce and spell 
one's way successfully through a reader, but it is of Httle 
importance so far as power and versatility are concerned, 
compared with the same number of words rendered familiar 
with much reading in numbers of books, through a longer 



period of time. Arrested development is a consequence of 
too much drill at this tender age, as many can testify. 

That parents do not understand this matter, and insist 
upon thoroughness at any cost, is not to be wondered at, 
but that some whose lives are spent in school work and in 
the daily observation of children, should by practice imply 
a like belief, is cause for astonishment. 

Books once in the hands of pupils, the position in 
which they are held is of importance only as it admits of an 
erect posture giving free lungs, and at such an angle as to 
afford free use of the vocal coi-ds, and permit the reader to 
look into the faces of those to whom he is reading. 

It is the right of every child to personally assist in the 
recitation, a right which is too frequently neglected in the 
huiTy of work. To give it due consideration would insure 
greater interest, and at the same time do away with a 
whole class of grievances too commonly enumerated by 
parents to principals. 

Expression 

depends upon comprehension and feeling. If illustrative 
material is carefully presented until the thought of the 
lesson is understood, and time given to catch the meaning 
of sentences, few questions will be necessary; but when 
these fail, and the question is necessary, the reply must be 
given in a full sentence. To accept a fragmentary response 
is to defeat the purpose of the question. If you doubt the 
statement, make the experiment. Pupils should be encour- 
aged to preserve their sweet, natural tones both by the 
voice of the teacher and by being afforded every means of 
practice in expressing sympathy, tenderness and love. 
These matters are brought out in the j^rinted story. 

18 



The tones and expressions of the teacher should be 
imitated as the children recite with her such poems as: 
How the Leaves Came Down, 
O Little Town of Bethlehem, 
Calling the Flowers, 
The Children's Hour, 
The Village Blacksmith, 
Hiawatha, 

and other poems of a beautiful character. The cultivation 
of wholesome sentiment is not the least part of a teacher's 
work. 

One element of good reading I neglected to state above, 
and that is the matter of distinct and correct enunciation. 
Much reading is spoiled from a lack of knowledge of and 
practice in this most mechanical process. If children could 
have the benefit of pure example at home and in school, the 
mistakes of the street might be counteracted and vocal 
drill be unnecessary as a class exercise; but not one child 
in fifty is thus fortunately situated, while our ever increas- 
ing foreign population demands much work in teaching 
children how to enunciate correctly and then to give much 
practice in overcoming wrong habits. 

A knowledge of a few of the laws of pronunciation is 
also necessary in ordei- that children may become independ- 
ent readers. To use the dictionary, later, in determining 
how to pronounce new and difficult words, a knowledge of 
diacritical marks is necessary. We will consider these 
three matters under the head of that much-abused term, 

Phonics. 

In the old time, when some of us were young, the laws 
of pronunciation were slowly but surely evolved from rows 

19 



of a-h — ahs, e-h — ehs, i-h — ihs, o-h — ohs, ti-h — ubs, from 
la-dy, sha-dy, ho-ly, lim-y, slim-y, and the like. It was a 
long and wearisome way over to the intellectual excitement 
of " Do we go up ? We do go up" ; and yet another weary 
stretch to the pictures and fables at the back of the speller 
where we read of the sad fate of '' Dog Tray," sympathized 
with the farmer who, " when kind words and gentle means 
failed, tried what virtue there was in stones," and had im- 
pressed upon us for life, that the decision in any case 
"depends upon whose bull is gored." But we learned how 
to spell and pronounce; worried our way through a first 
reader which lost interest as soon as we discovered what 
was in it; accidentally learned one day that books contain 
stories, and have ever since loved reading and good books. 

Now the order is reversed, and the grind comes after 
the pupil has had a taste of the good things to come, and 
the experience of reading is not suspended while a knowl- 
edge of word elements is instilled. The two proceed 
together, and are not intimately related, so far as the child 
is concerned. 

When the sentence is gi-adually dissolved into its parts 
through the discovery of the readers, and the words are 
reproduced in writing, the word comes to be seen as made 
up of parts, also. Spelling begins hei-e, and a knowledge 
of the sounds which these I'epresent follows as a natural 
consequence. This work occupies a portion of the recita- 
tion time for a year or more, according to the teacher and 
the ability of the children, and from that time forward, a 
gradual application of the knowledge thus acquired. The 
work involves a classification of common words which 
rhyme, as riiig, sing, wing; tvalk, tail', stalk, chalk; late, 
skate, mate ; me, we, see ; far, car, star, bar ; ivhe^i, then, 

20 



pen, etc. Enoug-h work of this description is done to 
evolve the few laws of pronnnciation of the monosyllable. 

The diacritical marks are tanght, as also the vowel and 
consonant sounds. Words are divided into syllables during 
the latter part of the second, and the third year, for assist- 
ance in sepai-ating the word at the end of a line in written 
composition, as well as for assistance in pronnnciation. 
During the latter half of the thii'd year attention is directed 
to the accented syllable. 

In all districts attention is given to the difficulties 
common to the neighborhood ; as in the pronunciation of 
words containing wh, eh, /, y, a and er. 

The fii'st efforts in spelling have been mentioned. In 
the phonetic work, the names of letters are learned by the 
close of the second term. Some attention is given to oral 
spelling from that time on. Some children are "eye 
minded," some "ear minded," and some "no minded," so 
far as spelling is concerned ; and in order that each may 
have the needed help, all methods are employed as occasion 
seems to require. The only reason for spelling lies in the 
requirements of written work, and of course the greater 
stress is placed upon written spelling. 



21 



(St. Paul Beading.) 
A SERIES OF LESSONS FOLLOWING OBSEKVATION. 

THE PEA. 



We looked at the dry peas. 

They are round and hard. 

Some are white. 

Some are light brown. 

Each pea has a scar. 

It was once fastened to a pod. 

The pod grew last summer. 

11. 

We put some peas in water. 

They soaked all night. 

The soaked pea is softer than the dry pea. 

The coat came off. 

It was thin and white. 

We could ahnost see tlirough it. 

The pea was in two pieces. 

A baby plant was between the pieces. 

We know what the two pieces are. 

They are little cups. 

The cups are full of food. 

Baby pea is fastened to the cups. 

She cannot get away. 

Water makes the food soft. 

Then baby pea eats the food. 

She grows and grows. 

22 



III. 

We put black earth in a box. 
We made the earth soft and fine. 
The earth is baby pea's bed. 
We made holes in the earth. 
We planted many peas. 
We gave them a nice drinlc. 
We said good night to them. 
We covered the holes with earth. 
We put the box in the sun. 
Every day they will need a drink. 

IV. 

Baby pea is growing. 

She has a little foot. 

The foot is a root. 

The root is her mouth, too. 

She has eaten all the food from the cups. 

Now she finds food in the earth. 

She is a white little plant. 

V. 

We saw baby pea's head. 

It is a bunch of leaves. 

She has just come above the earth. 

Her head droops. 

Her neck is curved. 

She is very small. 

We are glad to see her. 

We will give her water to drink. 

Come, warm sun, and help her grow. 

— S. C. B. 



23 



II. 

HOW READING IS TAUGHT IN BOSTON. 

Sarah Louise Arnold. 

Super7)isor Primarv Grades, Boston. 

The organization of the Boston schools difters in many 
ways from that which is to be fonnd in yonnger cities, 
where the system is of recent growth and has been planned 
from beginning to end by a single central authority. In 
such a city, one might be able to charactei-ize the method 
of reading or writing which prevails. Boston, however, is 
really an aggi-egation of cities, each with its history and 
tradition. Within its borders are "many men of many 
minds " and in its schools may be found many methods "of 
many kinds." In attempting to describe the i-eading there- 
fore the writer can in no sense speak with authority in 
regard to all varieties of work, but can simply emphasize 
the characteristics of the most successful work which she 
has witnessed. 

Primary reading in this city has passed through all 
known stages, and has had most of the diseases to which it 
is ordinarily subject. There was a time when the alpha- 
betical method was used. That was in the dim past. The 
word method followed, and became so active that it dis- 
placed nearly everything else. It was good so far as it 

24 



went. It taught the children to see the words as wholes, 
to recognize their old familiars upon new pages, but left 
them helpless when they encountered a strange word. 
They must be tied to the teachei-'s apron string. 

In order to cui-e this defect a phonic system was 
strongly emphasized, and in the reaction was made the 
basis of learning to read. The Leigh type was used for a 
season, with its special and particular signs and marks; so 
the pendulum swung again towards formalism, but 'the 
children learned something of self-help. Boston has 
Quincy and Chelsea at her gates, and therefore could not 
fail to share in the advantages of the " objective method " 
and the "thought method." All of these have been at- 
tempted in greater or less degree by all teachers, some 
carrying the single phase to an extreme, and othei-s select- 
ing such elements as seemed particularly helpful in their 
own classes. 

It has come about, therefore, that an eclectic method 
prevails in nearly all primaiy schools. I shall briefly out- 
line its characteristics. First, an attempt is made from the 
beginning to give the children some notion of the purpose 
of reading, so that they will care to learn to read books. 
Stories are read to them, to show them what books may 
contain for their pleasure. The material which is chosen 
for the early lessons is, as far as possible, that which is 
interesting to the children, every sentence containing some 
thought worth getting. Just as a child cracks a nut to get 
Its kernel, he works out the meaning and is willing to 
work. Second, the first vocabulary deals with objects 
familiar to the children, and the first sentences are made to 
express the children's thoughts about these objects. For a 
season, the thought method, so called, predominates, the 



object being to help the children to realize that reading is 
thought getting. 

After a few weeks of such reading, where the main 
attempt is to interest the children in simple sentences which 
they can master with the teacher's help, and so seem to 
read, there begins a deliberate classification of the type 
words of the vocabulary, with a view to making the chil- 
dren masters of the elementary sounds. This work in 
phonics is widely difi^erent in diflPerent schools. Some 
teachers make a small vocabulary of type words which the 
children learn "to sound" during the first half of the first 
school year. Others teach first the sounds of the conso- 
nants and short sounds of the vowels, and then combine 
them in the common typical monosyllables. Still others 
work with the syllable elements as, — an, at, ing, ack, etc., 
teaching these without analysis as wholes, and from them 
building the families or groups of words which rhyme. 
Teachers are advised to consider this exercise as word 
study only, keeping the term " reading " for the exercise in 
which the child actually reads, and thus avoiding the com- 
mon mistake of accepting an exercise in mere Avord pro- 
nouncing under the name of reading. Phonics are a help 
to pronouncing words, and should be taught, in oi'der to 
make the child independent in recognizing new words; but 
word pronouncing is but a single element of reading, and 
is worthless except as it serves as a means of thought 
getting. A child reads only when he gets the thought. 

As soon as the middle of the first year, we find the 
first grade children able to give the sounds of the letters 
separately, to recognize common type woixls, to give them 
definitely, and to read several sentences at sight if their 
vocabulary is familiar, or to dig out the meaning of a sen- 



26 



tence by the aid of phonies. Several primers and first 
readers are available during this year, and lessons are 
selected according to the children's ability and need. The 
day's exercise in reading usually includes first, a study of 
the new words which will occur in the unfamiliar lessons ; 
second, study and reading of the new lesson; third, review, 
or supplementary reading; fourth, drill in sound. 

A most valuable accompaniment of the reading lesson 
is the language lesson, which may be frequently substituted 
for the reading lesson during this first year. Just as a 
teacher helps a child to master the form and sound of a 
word through the study of phonics, she presents the mean- 
ing of unfamiliar words in the language lesson. It often 
happens that children fail to get the thought in the sentence 
because their experience is so limited that even the simplest 
words present no idea to their minds, or a vague idea at 
best. The lesson which describes a hen, means nothing to 
a child who has never seen a hen. A lesson upon the cow 
is barren of interest to a child who has spent his life in a 
tenement house and street alley. It is absolutely necessary 
to supplement the children's experience by lessons which 
give them new thoughts and so fill with meaning these 
sentences which are simple to us but difficult to them. 
Side by side with the reading lessons therefore go the 
lessons upon plants and animals, talks about pictures, — 
stories, — poems, — and songs, — with visits to the black- 
smith or the baker, walks in the parks or fields. By such 
means, the children are helped to clear notions of fife about 
them. Whenever the reading lesson presents an idea 
which is foreign to the children, the teacher should attempt 
to add to their experience at the same time that the word is 
added to their vocabulary. It goes without saying that in 

27 



no other manner can the word hecome the child's own pos- 
session. It may be j)ronounced as a part of the lesson, but 
it has no excuse for being except as it stands for something 
in the child's own experience. 

There is great diversity in detail in the teaching of 
reading in the Boston schools, but in general the above 
plan is followed by the most successful teachers, and, con- 
sciously or unconsciously, it is followed by every child who 
learns to read. The path is shortest where the elements of 
strength in the various methods are recognized by the 
teacher, and so combined as to meet the immediate needs 
of her class. The clearest and most definite work is done 
by the teachers who consciously lay before the childi-en the 
mastery of books as a goal. 

These teachers insist upon using good literature from the 
beginning. They i-ead to the children from the best books; 
they study with them memory gems chosen from the 
choicest literature; they lead them as soon as possible to 
the fairy tale and fable, as well as the poem. Learning to 
read is made subordinate to reading. Word pronouncing 
as an end is no longer esteemed, but from the very begin- 
ning, as far as possible, the child is made a book-lover. 

28 



III. 

HOW READING IS TAUGHT IN INDIANAPOLIS. 
A.MV B. Algeo. 

The autumn, when so many children enter school for 
the first time, is surely the ideal season for introducing the 
little ones into the mysteries of the written language — to 
give them the key by which they may eventually gain ad- 
mittance to the now locked up treasures of literature. 

All children love the gorgeous fall flowers, the gaily 
colored leaves, the nuts and the curious and wonderful seed 
vessels which are so abundant then. It requires little effort 
on the part of the teacher to get enthusiastic response after 
putting a flower or a bright leaf in each hand. 

For several weeks the lessons should be purely con- 
versational. The child brings but one accomplishment to 
school — his power of oral speech — and that should be 
fostered and jDut to service. In the home the child knows 
no fear in expressing himself. Why should his lips be 
sealed when he enters school? Freedom of speech and 
progress are interdependent. Freedom of speech, however, 
must not be confused with license. The child must be 
carefully guarded from falling into the habit of saying 
meaningless nothings, simply for the sake of talking. 

2y 



Til tlic conversation lessons, no attcinpt should hv made 
to I'eproduce the sentences at first. The conversation 
should be confined to the <j^eneral a])pearance of the leaf, 
flower or nut — no study of parts being made or botanical 
terms given. 

It is a good ])lan it one has several classes to let one 
class give s])ecial attention to flowers, another to leaves and. 
another to seeds, so that the classes working at the seats 
may not hear the lesson to be recited later and so weary of 
it. Tn conned ion with the conversation lessons the story 
should be brought in and here again is shown the advan- 
tage of having a slight distinction in the work of the 
several classes. The class studying leaves may take Henry 
Ward Beecher's beautiful story of the "Anxious Leaf" 
MMie llower class may have "How West Wind IIel])ed the 
Dandelion," while the seed class has the story of "Little 
Acorn's Friend," so that each class has a center of intei-est 
around which all the work revolves. 

After the child has become perfectly free and uncon- 
scious of himself the next stej) is to introduce the written 
sentence. The child talks in sentences and will grasp a 
written sentence with more ease than a word. lie ex- 
|)resses his thought, then sees it in tangil)le form before 
him. I lis interest in his own expression leads him to take 
up with zest the work of mastering the symbols by which 
it is ])ul in tangible lorin. Beyond question childi'cn who 
have been started with the sentence method show greater 
faxdlity in the use of both oi-al and written language^ at the 
end of the second or third year of school than do those who 
have begun with the word or alphabet method. 

Tn taking up the written sentence a child may give the 
sentence, "My leaf is red," and the teacher says, " I am 



30 



g-oing- to have my chalk write just wliat Elsie; said," at Ihc 
same time writing" the sentence on the l)hxckl)()ai-(l in iai<^-c,, 
clear script. All reading should he from scrij)t for at least 
six weeks and even after the tr-ansition to print is ma(h', 
the sc^ript woi-k should not l)e dropped. All hlackhoai-d 
work should he in scri|)t. 

Several similar sentences may l)c given. '^My leaf is 
yellow." "My leaf is green." "This leaf is hrown," etc. 
At the next lesson the teacher may place these sentences 
on the hoard and let Elsie find hers, John his and Mary 
hers, etc. Again the sentence " My k'af is yellow " may he 
written and one child allowed to find from a collection of 
leaves the one just written about. Such exercises may be 
kept up until the children are able to read a dozen or more 
sentences, such as, "I have a seed." " I see a flower." "I 
see a leaf." " I have a nut." " My leaf is green." " This 
flower is pink." "My nut is brown." "The seed is black." 
"I have a red apple." "I see a yellow peach," etc. 

The next step is to have the child recognize the woi'ds 
in the sentence. To aid in this it is well to have a list of 
words already used in the sentences on a side l)oard; to 
have them written with a ■rul)ber pen on j)ieces of cai-d- 
board. Colored crayons and circles of color-ed paper [tasted 
on cards are useful. But above all have cpiantities of 
leaves, flowers, fruits, nuts, etc., at hand. 

Let one child read slowly a sentence such as " \ see a 
leaf," then ask if someone can get a pretty leaf and hold i1 
nndei- the ])art of the sentence that says b^af. Let another 
child draw a lin(; oi- a picture of a leaf under the part that 
says leaf. Another may find a card with the; word leaf on 
it, while still another may take the ])ointer and find the 
word leaf in the list on the side boai'd. As it is quite a 



31 



step for the child to carry the word in mind while he walks 
across the room and picks it out from among other words, 
it is best not to have too long a list at first. The list may 
be added to, and arrangement changed from day to day. 
The sentence, " I see a red leaf," may be written and a 
similar exercise on the word red given. Then the sentence 
may be changed to "" My leaf is red " and the words leaf 
and red found and pointed out. In a short time the 
children recognize words readily and the reading be- 
comes very interesting. Increase of power means increase 
of interest. 

The flash writing plays an important jjart in the child's 
progress in reading. If no other time can be given to it a 
part of the reading time may be profitably given up to it. 

It is certain that after a child has attempted to write a 
word it is moi'e firmly impi'essed upon his mind even if the 
attempt has been a failure, as it pi'obably will be at first. 

The word red (or any word) may be put on the board 
in large, clear writing. The children are then asked to be 
photogi-aphers and take its picture. The word is erased 
and some child takes the crayon and writes the word. The 
first attempt will probably result in up and down marks 
and loops, but in an incredibly short time the child will be 
able to reproduce almost any word he uses. It is best to give 
several woi'ds as green, leaf, nut, seed, etc., without waiting 
until one word is perfectly written. At first nothing is said 
about the t'oi-m or size of the letters, but after the word has 
been fairly well written it may be remarked incidentally 
that I and /'are the same size and that e and a are the same, 
while I and /'are twice as high as e and a. Care should be 
taken that the child moves along the board as he is writing 
so as to keep his chalk in front of him. Otherwise his 

32 



writing will run up or down hill. !N"o lines should be on 
the board. This flash writing is a great help in learning 
new words and fixing old ones. It is of great assistance 
until the child becomes independent in the use of phonics. 
All the time the sentence reading and flash writing 
have been going on the story should have an equally im- 
portant place. All children love the story. It may be the 
center of interest around which all other work revolves — 
the songs, games, morning talks, etc. It should be begun 
the first day of school for it is the royal i-oad to the child's 
confidence. The story has a wonderful formative influence 
on little children. It instils a love of reading, develops a 
taste for good literature, cultivates the art of speech and 
wonderfully increases the child's vocabulary. It broadens 
his sympathies, perfects his judgments, leads him to see the 
happiness that comes from giving and doing for others. In 
the story of the " Wind and the Sun," what child will not 
see that it was not the victory so much as the way in which 
the victory was won that made the Sun the stronger. In 
Hans Andersen's " Story of a Pea Vine," it was the quiet, 
contented little pea that did the most good and had the 
most wonderful life come to it. 

The story gives the child a standard on which to base 
his conduct and actions. I have seen the atmosphere of a 
whole school changed by the influence of a story. I have 
seen the stolid face of a little German girl transformed and 
beautified by the influence of Andersen's " Story of a Pea 
Vine." To obtain the best results the story must be told 
— not read. The teacher cannot put her whole soul into 
the story which she has to glean little by little from the 
printed page. The enimciation should be distinct and the 
intonations sweet and clear, for unconsciously the child 

33 



follows the model set by the teacher and will eventually 
throw off harsh intonations and slovenly hr.bits of speech. 

After the story has been told by the teacher, several 
days may be profitably spent in discussing it in all its bear- 
ings. At the close of each discussion the story may be re- 
told by the teacher. Never force the child to use any set 
words. If his ideas are clear and definite he will uncon- 
sciously adopt the language of the story and before long 
reproduce it word for word. 

As soon as possible the simple outline of the story may 
be given in sentences for reading lessons. These may be 
reproduced by means of the printing press. As the child 
gains powei' in self-helpfulness from his work in phonics 
the reading lessons from the story may be longer and more 
in detail. 

Up to a certain point the child takes new words as 
wholes very readily, but as new words multiply the child 
becomes confused. He forgets the words he learned sev- 
eral days before and the only way to help him is to tell him 
the word again. This, if continued, would make him de- 
pendent — the very thing we are most anxious to avoid and 
the only way to avoid it is to give him thorough training in 
phonics. 

Each teacher must decide for her class when it is ready 
to begin the " sound " w^ork. Some classes are ready for a 
vigorous attack on phonics at the end of six weeks of 
school work. Other classes starting at the same time may 
not be ready for several months. For some time before the 
foi-mal start in phonics the teacher should be training the 
ear of the child. This work may be introduced as a game. 
Elsie may bring me a h-o-x. John may r-u-n. Tom may 
h-o-j). Mary may get a c-ii-p. The dog can h-a-r-h. The 

34 



flower is r-e-d, etc. One child may give directions in like 
manner to be carried out by others in the class. 

About the time that work in phonics is commenced the 
transition from script to print may be made. A few sen- 
tences may be written on the board with the printed words 
directly under the written ones. A list of written words 
with the printed words under them may be placed in a con- 
spicuous place for a few days. A few minutes a day may 
be spent in pointing first to a written word then to. the 
same printed, etc. If the vertical writing is used the 
change is so slight that the children can read with equal 
facility either print or script in a few days. 

When tolerable facility has been gained in i-ecognizing 
words which have been slowly pronounced by the teacher, a 
word may be printed on the board and slowly pronounced 
as piinted, as n-u-t. What part of this word says nf 
What part uf What part tf Then the word s-u-n may 
be printed and pronounced. What part of this word says 
nf uf sf As many words as possible should be given 
which involve the use of a limited number of sounds — new 
ones being given from time to time as the child gains 
power. Care should ])e taken at first to give only one 
sound of a letter — short «, i, o, u and long e. As the child 
becomes more self helpful and more sounds and combina- 
tions of sounds can be given he should also have a few of 
the simpler rules of phonics. As e at the end of a word is 
silent and usually makes the vowel in the middle long, as 
in the word take. 

When two vowels come together as ea, oa, ai, etc., one 
is usually long and the other silent. Y at the end of words 
of one syllable is like long i. The combinations ch, ivh, th, 
sJi, ow, ou, or, and ar should be given. Diacritical mai-ks 



35 



are of comparatively little value. Either the child pays no 
attention to them or if he is trained to use them he finds 
himself at a loss if he opens a page on which they are not 
used. 

Indianapolis believes that the sentence method is the 
one best suited to the needs of the child in his first attempts 
in reading. The child is subjected to less waste by this 
method. He is at once given something to read. This 
method is followed by the word and that in turn by the 
phonic. This does not mean, howevei*, that when one 
method is taken up the others are dropped. The three are 
interdependent and there should be a constant moving back 
and forth among them. 

Indianapolis also believes that all children are not en- 
dowed with the same degree of ability. It is not said to 
any first year teacher, " Thus far shalt thou go." Each 
teacher is given the utmost freedom with certain limits. 
And this is wise, for what one class may accomplish in a 
month another class may take three, yes, four months to do. 
But we are not engaged in turning out so many clothes- 
pins all of the same pattern, and if the child's individualit}^ 
has been developed and strengthened, then the time has not 
been wasted. 

The schools of Indianapolis are especially fortunate in 
having an elastic program and course of study for the first 
year, and i-esults have proved that no mistake was made in 
allowing this freedom. 

36 



(Reading in Indianapolis Schools.) 

THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. 
Part I. 

Were you ever thirsty ? 

So thirsty you could think of nothing else ? 

One day a poor crow was very thirsty. 

He could find no water anywhere. 

He was not able to fly any farther. 

He saw a large pitcher on the ground. 

"There may be water in it," he said. 

"I will go and see." 

Part H. 

There was water in the pitcher. 

But there was very little. 

The poor crow could not reach it. 

"Oh, what shall I do?" he thought. 

The sight of the water made him so thirsty. 

"I might break the pitcher," said he. 

But the pitcher was too strong. 

" I might tip it over," he thought. 

But the pitcher was too heavy. 

Part HI. 

Poor little crow. 

But he said, "I will not give up." 
" There must be some way to get that water." 
"I will try until I find it." 
At last he flew away. 
Do you think he gave it up? 
No, indeed ! He was a brave little crow. 
He was bright, too. 
I will tell you what he did. 
37 



Part IV. 

Soon he came back. 

He had a little pebble in his mouth. 

He dropped it into the pitcher. 

Again he flew away. 

He came back with another pebble. 

He dropped this into the pitcher. 

"It will help bring the water to me," he said. 

Was he not a bright little crow? 

Part V. 

He flew away again and again. 

Each time he brought back a pebble. 

Each one made the water come a little higher. 

Each time the crow tried to reach it. 

He was getting very tired. 

But he did not give up. 



FIVE PEAS IN A POD. 

Part I. 

There were five little peas in a pod. 

They were green and the pod was green. 

They thought all the world was green. 

The sun shone and the rain fell. 

The pod began to grow and the peas began to grow. 

They began to think about leaving the pod. 

Part II. 

"Must we stay here always?" said one. 

"I should like to see outside," said another. 

"We shall get so hard," said a third. 

"Let's run away," said the fourth. 

The fifth little pea said nothing. 

The sun shone and the rain fell. 

Soon the pod began to turn yellow and the peas 

began to turn yellow. 
"All the world is turning yellow," said they. 

38 



Part III. 

A boy came along. 

He picked the pod and put the pods in his pocket. 
"Here are five peas for my shooter," said he. 
By and by he shot one. 

" Here I go," it said. " Shall I never stop ? " 
Soon it fell and rolled under a leaf. 
The boy shot another. 

"Up I go ! I shall never stop." But it too fell and 
rolled away. 

Part IV. 

The third fell as he Avas about to put it in his shootc r. 

The fourth fell into a gutter. 

It lay in the water. 

It swelled and swelled. 

It thought there was never a pea so large. 

But what became of the fifth — the little one that said 

nothing? 
It fell in a crack by a window. 
It lay in some moss and earth a long time. 

Part V. 

By and by a change came to it. 

Two little leaves grew up. 

A little root went down. 

There was a bright little pea- vine. 

It grew and grew. 

It got so tall it could look in at the window. 

One day it looked in. 

It saw a little sick girl. 

She was so glad to see it. 

She petted and cared for it. 

At last she was able to so out. 

That day the pea-vine blossomed. 



39 



IV. 

HOW READING IS TAUGHT IN BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
Ellen E. Kenyon Warner. 

The Aim in- teaching i-eading in Brooklyn is general 
culture : 

1. By lively exercise of the fticulties. 

2. By early acquaintance with literature. 

In the beginning, the mechanics of reading is put fore- 
most, and the chief immediate educational gain is in the 
exercise of faculty upon the phonetic material furnished the 
children — an exercise which is made extremely pleasurable. 

Later, and as fast as the growing reading vocabulary 
permits, the delights and elevating force of literature creep 
in. 

The Method is a combination of the word and pho- 
netic methods that has been evolved by Superintendent 
Ward out of a careful analysis of the causes of failure in 
previous adaptations of phonics to the teaching of reading 
and from experiments based upon that study. It seeks the 
greatest economy in gradation of work and in relatedness 
and stimulative character of exercises, so as to promote in 
the most rapid manner possible a mastery of English word 



recognition. 



40 



Professor Ward defines reading as "thought getting 
through word getting," and holds that word getting is a 
necessary preliminary to thought getting. Also that chil- 
dren should not be limited for any protracted period to the 
meagre reading vocabulary which is imparted by the word 
method unaided, or crippled beyond the very earliest stages 
of their reading for lack of a " key " with which to unlock 
the unknown word, the possession and ready use of such a 
key being the first requisite of a reader who is to "^ get the 
thought." And, furthermore, that little readers should not 
be confronted with text for which they have no such key, 
lest they develop a fear of strange text and acquire labori- 
ous and mechanical habits of word getting without thought 
getting. In these words he describes his system : 

" The rational method is a peculiar combination of the 
sentence and the phonetic methods. It utilizes each for 
that part of the work to which it is particularly adapted. 
The sentence method is used first as principle, because of 
its value in developing a habit of reading thoughtfully, and 
afterwards as auxiliary, to remedy the short-comings of the 
phonetic method and increase the stock of word phono- 
grams. The phonetic method which is introduced by easy 
stages during the ascendancy of the sentence method finally 
becomes itself the principal means of growth and progress. 
Its proper use develops great power, while it supplies the 
key which the other is inadequate to give." 

Innovations. 

Technical Terms — A few terms peculiar to the system 
are defined as follows: 

Phonogram — A written or printed representation of a 
sound, either simple, or compound, as,y, s, I, ing, ight. 

41 



Sight Word — A word that has been taught as a whole, 
and is therefore recognized by sight alone. 

Phonetic Word — A word to be' i*ead by means of its 
phonograms. 

Sight Reading — The reading of sight words, either 
singly or in sentences. 

Simple Phonogram — A phonogram containing but one 
letter, as, s, e, o. 

Compound Phonogram — A phonogram containing 
more than one letter, as, ight^ ness. 

Word Phonogram — A sight word used as a phonogram 
in a longer word, as, and in sand', he in heap. 

Principles. 

1. The presentation of the sounds and their symbols 
in an order that involves gi-ading from the easy to the 
dilticult. 

2. The teaching of an initial stock of phonograms 
before any phonetic reading is done. 

3. The training of the ear in the perception of pho- 
netic blends before phonetic reading is begun. 

4. An extensive and systematic use of word phono- 
grams and other compound phonograms in making long 
words practically short, as I ight n ing. 

5. A careful grading of the phonetic words used, be- 
ginning with words having not more than two phonogr-ams. 

6. A gradual introduction of the phonetic words into 
the sentence reading, beginning with one phonetic word to 
a sentence. 

7. Separate daily drills in the quick recognition of the 
phonograms and the reading of simple phonetic words. 

42 



The Method in Practice. 

You would not know a Brooklyn class from any othei- 
bright one in listening to the earliest reading lessons. If 
the teacher has the word " my " to teach, she tries to induce 
the idea " my." If her first efforts fail, she possibly takes 
hold of Johnny's sleeve and asks: "Whose jacket is this, 
Johnny?" and if Johnny answers, "Me brother's," she 
tries something else. 

In incidental correlation with the "thought studies," 
when both can be strengthened and neither hindered 
thereby, but without special effort in this direction, the 
vocabulary of the Primer, Part I. (eighty-three words), is 
taught, this part of the work being completed, usually, in 
about eight weeks. 

The teacher regards this vocabulary as so much read- 
ing material, to be got into the child's possession as rapidly 
as possible; and, in order that it may enter his mind as 
reading material, the words are always taught in short 
sentences. They are taught in a different order from that 
of their introduction in the book, so as to avoid the use of 
book sentences on the blackboard. The sci'ipt form is used 
in this earlier work. The teachers produce as many differ- 
ent sentences as they can from the words known at any 
given time, so that the children may have a great deal of 
varied practice. 

Each sentence is scanned before being read aloud, the 
pupil thus assuring himself of his ability to say it all. At 
the first sign of hesitancy, he is checked and made to see 
that he did not study the sentence enough to get its mean- 
ing. It is almost impossible under this system for a pupil 
to acquire the habit of stumbling over his text. 



43 



A whole class of simple plurals and other words ending 
in s are taught almost at a stroke. For instance, the words, 
apple, boy, day, egg, give, play, come, etc., being known, 
the teacher writes them all on the board together and adds 
.s* to each. After a single exercise upon these augmented 
words, all such words are taught simultaneously with and 
without the s. A similar method introduces all the ing 
words, such words as giving being avoided at first because 
of the necessity of dropping the e. 

Psychic Causes Physical Activity. 

While this word teaching by the sentence method is 
going on, another and quite diff'erent line of work is pro- 
ceeding with equal earnestness. This is the preliminary 
phonetic work, and in it the children rise to the white heat 
of interest. 

Imagine, if you like, that all the infant classes in the 
Brooklyn schools take their morning lessons in phonetics at 
the same hour (which they do not, of course) and that 
every child in all the classes is " wanting to tell " and ener- 
getically expressing his desire by a gesture of the hand, 
outstretched toward the blackboard. This is scarcely au 
exaggeration of what inight happen as a result of some pre- 
concerted understanding emanating from, the superintend- 
ent's desk. But not at first. Thought has to be waked up 
before such general and lively interest becomes an actuality 
among the little ones. 

And this is how it is done. 

The mechanical drill in (a) recognition of phonograms 
and (?>) perception of blend is kept separate from the sen- 
tence work, begun at the beginning of the first term, con- 
ducted daily, and so managed as to make it a very brisk 

44 



competitive exercise. A few minutes a day in each of these 
hnes of drill suffices to insure rapid progress, because of 
the careful grading of the work. 

The first phonogram taken is /', l)ecause its sound can 
be prolonged for ear study and blends easily with whatever 
follows it in the words that are subsequently taught. After 
it come m, n, I, r and .s-, chosen for the same characteristic. 

For the first lesson, the teacher writes /' on the black- 
board and gives the sound, Avhich the children repeat sev- 
eral times as she touches the symbol with the pointer. As 
often as convenient during the day, between other exer- 
cises, she points suddenly to the letter or makes another 
like it and the children give the sound. Before the day is 
out, some have learned to watch for the signal and have 
the sound ready. 

The next day, a second letter and its sound are simi- 
larly taught. There is now a field for comparison, and the 
letters are alternated with as much variety of call as possi- 
ble. The spirit of a game already begins to develop. 

The call being sprung upon the class at odd moments 
during the day, an alertness is cultivated which is never 
allowed to wane dui-ing the phonetic course, but kept grow- 
ing, to the benefit of other studies and the general quicken- 
ing of the mind. 

Very soon the word-building begins. The word fan 
is taken first. The teacher writes it; covers the an and 
asks what thesis; covers the 'f and asks what therm is; 
covers both and has them recalled; encourages the children 
to put them togethci*; helps them as much as is necessary, 
prolonging the /'sound. 

Man and ran follow. {^An is a sight word, taught in 
the sentences and afterward used as a phonogram.) These 

45 



word-building exercises do not differ in the manner of giv- 
ing them from simihir exercises in other systems, save that, 
the teacher's prominent thought in connection with them 
l)eing to train the ear in perception of the blend, she 
approximates a given order in her selection of words for the 
purpose, ])roceeding from blends that are easy to those 
next in difficulty. 

Long after some children have caught the idea of 
blend and can put difficult sounds together smoothly in 
words, other children in the same class find the joining 
difficult. But these slow ones are not allowed to lose 
heart. Indeed, they are clever if they discover theii- own 
slowness, for the teacher keeps practicing them upon work 
that they can do in such a lively manner that it is not 
noticed that they are selected for all the " easy ones." The 
constant review that is kept up affords plenty of material 
for this generous practice. 

Thus fearfulness and the sense of dullness never 
develops to diminish the interest of any in the phonetic 
work. The result is a steady growth of power for all. And 
so much more practice is given to the weak than to the 
strong that an evening up takes place as the work proceeds 
and a remarkable unanimity of result marks the close of 
each term's effort. 

A device that greatly assists in the cultivation of brisk- 
ness is the set of phonetic cards, issued with the books that 
embody the system. These bear each one phonogram, in 
script on one side and in pi'int on the other. 

After a general exercise or two in quickly showing the 
cards and withdrawing them, while the class names the 
phonogram seen, individual and general practice are com- 
bined in this way: The children rise, a row at a time, and 



•i6 



each is g-iven a chance to name a phonogram pi"oduced for 
him. If he fails to name it instantlf/, the teacher gives the 
sign and the eager class responds. It is no disgrace to 
miss, bnt each pnpil is ambitions to catch his phonogram 
" on the fly," and not have it taken from him by his class- 
mates. Two or three minutes amply suffice to thus exer- 
cise a class of fifty. It has been done in one minute. The 
training in attention is found invalnable in its effects m the 
other studies. 

In the eai- training, an old and familiar device is used 
at the start very helpfully. It is to tell a story and stop at 
some of the easy words to say them analytically, as n-ail, 
the class repeating the woi-d as a whole to show that they 
know what it is. It will be noticed that in this exercise, 
the teacher does the analyzing and the pupil the synthetiz- 
ing. In some of the oldei' phonetic systems, the children 
were compelled to dig and delve for their phonetic material, 
themselves breaking up the words in which it was to be 
found. This was found so difficult an operation that 
teacher and pupil were often discouraged, the acquirement 
of the jxjwer to read was delayed, and phonetics fell into 
disrepute. In the Brooklyn system, the phonetic building 
blocks are given the children all ready for use, and theii- 
energies are all directed to the mastery of the blend. 

From Script to Print. 

The transition is made very easily by simply turning 
to the printed Primer after its words have all been taught 
in script. But little blackboard help is needed. No new 
words are taught until Part I. of the Primer has been read 
through. In this book, abundant repetition of all word 
forms used is made the main point. As much as possible, 

. 47 



successions of sentences referring to the same thought are 
given, but the '"' story " idea is never permitted to interfere 
with the essentials of practice. 

An illustration of the wise progression observed in the 
system may thus be given: 

A set of teachers in a certain school were asked by 
their principal to put their classes to book reading before 
the appointed time. One of the teachers " begged off," 
asking a week longer in Avhich to complete the preparatory 
work. This teacher, by the end of the term, had taken her 
children through five miscellaneous reading books, not of 
the system, while her mates had completed but three. 

Simultaneously with the print reading, the blackboard 
work goes on, phonetic words being introduced into the 
sentences. Scanning precedes reading aloud in every 
instance. If the pupil needs help, he discovers the fact 
during this silent study of his sentence, and the class gives 
it. Blundering is thus i-educed to the minimum, and the 
natural tendency to carelessness that characterizes some 
pupils being checked in the I'eading lessons, disappears in a 
measure from all their work. 

By the time Part I. of the Primer is finished (this is 
called the " second stage of the work," and requires about 
three weeks) the children have become used to finding 
marked words in their script sentences and are not fright- 
ened at their appearance in the print. Part II. of the 
Primer introduces them, at first only to a sentence. After 
this, new words or new phonograms are taught in each 
lesson in the books, until a point is i-eached where a gen- 
eral review is found desirable, when less preparatory black- 
board work is done and the book reading proceeds more 
rapidly. More and more frequently, it is found possible to 

48 



widen the text out into a little nature lesson, dialogne or 
story, but this is never done at the expense of fniiple prac- 
tice upon words and phonograms^ new and old, the aim of 
the system being to impart as rapidly as possible a key to 
real literature, which begins to make its appearance in the 
First Reader and comes in greater abundance later on. 

DiCIPLINE. 

It would give the martinet teacher bad dreams to see 
the commotion of interest that characterizes a recitation in 
phonetics in a Brooklyn baby class, and to hear the eager 
whispering with which each baby vocalizes to himself in a 
^preparatory way the word he is anxious to tell. iV thought- 
ful observer, however, could scarce help remarking, "Why, 
these children are not listening to their neighbors. They 
are not leaning. They have no idea of borrowing their 
seat-mates' glory. The whispering cannot, be regarded in 
the ordinary light of ^ communication.' Each midget is so 
intent upon getting the word for himself as to be oblivious 
of all ' help.' The whispering is a natural expression of 
concomitant activity, and helps them to form the woi'd in 
thought and hold it while waiting for the opportunity to 
tell it. It is a freedom most wisely allowed." 

Completion of the "Key." 

With each new set of phonograms, there is given in 
the manual of instruction to teachers a list of words falling 
within the ordinary vocabulary of children that can be read 
by means of the phonograms just given, in combination 
with all that jDrecede. These lists have been made as 
comprehensive as jDossible, under a diligent search of the 
dictionary, and the teacher need not go outside them for her 

41J 



practice iii.aterial. Progressive practice in making ont the 
words of these lists by means of the given phonograms 
imparts the power to read English text independently. 
That this mastery is act[uired rapidly is shown by the ease 
and fearlessness with which second-term children turn 
from their own reader to others of its grade. 

Thorough work is made of it. Such difficult combina- 
tions as occur in blew and ylae are iwacticed upon when 
they come, not lightly skipped or passed by. All difficulties 
are carefully reserved until their turn arrives in the order 
of grading, but nothing is shirked. 

The last thing to do is to drop the phonetic mark- 
ing. This is done graduall3^ The Third Keader con- 
tains but little of it. And by this time, the little Italian 
baby who proudly answei'ed ^' deng ! " when his teachei" 
asked him to repeat lug after her and the smiling little 
girl who persisted to the point of tears in giving '^ blad- 
ling " as her nearest approach to " badly," having learned 
to liear the phonetic constituents of words and to enunciate 
distinctly. 

Individuality in Teaching. 

Besides the devices prescribed in the manual for insur- 
ing interest and a rapid progress, the teachers use others 
of their own. 

Some add to the phonetic cards furnished with a 
manual a similar set for drill in the reco":nition of sigfht 
words. These are made by themselves, and each bears a 
word in script on one side and in print on the other. 

Some illustrate their blackboard lessons with pictures 
hung before the class, or (what the children love better) 
with blackboard sketches. 

50 



Some use the hektograph for the reproduction of cer- 
tain lessons in sufficient numbers to go round the class. 

Some do not mark the words in the blackboard lessons 
until the children have told which words need marking. 
This gives the bright ones opportunity to read the new 
words without the help of the marking, as all must eventu- 
ally do. 

A blackl)oai'd lesson, when marked, looks like this : 







0lcyu/- /iamaI' uud^ /di^ ^ 

dieAM, uCo^^ MMju (Xd^\ 
Ay/iymjiy /oyyixv yn^(W^ A.,c-tm£/ fO/UUX^- 



While the book matter is necessarily condensed, it be- 
ing essential therein to accomplish within a given compass 
a' certain amount of repetition and review of woi'ds and 
their elements, the teachers, in their blackboard lessons, are 
free to expand into all the pleasantness their sympathy with 
the children may suggest. Thus many of the class-made 
lessons are exceedingly bright. For instance, the follow- 
ing, illustrated by excellent blackboard sketches: 



51 



Kitty wants to catch the bird. 

The window is open. 

Ponto is by it, looking out. 

He likes the dear little bird. 

Kitty creeps up softly. 

She is about to pounce upon the bird. 

But Ponto sees her. 

He catches her instead. 

The little bird flies ofl". 

"What time is \i, Mr. Rabbitt?" 

"I think it is breakfast time. I am going to take this cab- 
bnge home. I shall cook it for dinner." 

"You must be quick then. It is going to shower soon." 

"Oh, dear! I stall hurry away. I don't want to wet my 
new umbrella." 

Mrs. Goose has no umbrella. But she is glad to have it rain. 

Brooklyn has illustrated in its class rooms Professor 
Ward's method of teaching reading for the benefit of many 
visitors, and its teachers have been called to other cities to 
explain the system by lecture. A class of nine children 
was recently taken by Mrs. Gordon L. Warner as far as 
Hackensack, N. J., to illustrate such a lecture. The chil- 
dren had done but one term's school work, attending during 
the first five months as " afternoon scholars," two hours a 
day, and during the second term as " morning sclwlars," 
three hours a day. The following sentences, prepared in 
advance by the teacher, but new to the children, were 
given : 

Alkali Ike is the name of a western gentleman. 

We can read Sanscrit, if desired. 

Latin words, too, are given with ease. 

But we are American boys. 

We intend to be clever. 

You may catechise us, if you care to. 

52 



So the amused auditors, who didn't want to be incred- 
ulous, but could scarce help it, proceeded to " catechise." 
The words Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, President 
McKinley, teacher, principal, Mr. Ingalls, Head of Depart- 
ment, Georgics, Hackensack, Psyche and others were 
given. 

The children had to be excused from attempting 
Georgics, not having reached the soft g in their phonetic 
course. The other words offered no difficulty. Some of 
them were given in the following sentences : 

Hear us say Connecticut. Know you the state of Vermont? 
Maine is noted for big forests. We know who is President. He 
is President McKinley. The battleship " Maine " was lost. She 
was an American ship. Near Havana she was lost. They called 
her a man-of-war. 

53 



V. 

HOW READING IS TAUGHT IN KANSAS CITY. 
Josephine Heermans. 

Principal Whittier School, A'ansas City, Mo. 

While I shall speak for Kansas City, there may be in 
the length and breadth of the town other methods used, but 
in so far as I know, the following is the one pursued : 

In accordance with the Missouri law a child must be 
six to be of school age. He may then enter the kindei'- 
garten or the primary department, as the parent elects. In 
many schools there is a primary room that enrolls begin- 
ners, and another that takes the children who have spent a 
year in the kindergarten. In the latter case the children are 
a year older than those in the same grade whose parents 
for some reason do not wish to enter them in the kinder- 
garten, Init they do the same work. We are watchnig the 
results from both ([uarters very closely. Enough time has 
not yet elapsed to speak with certainty as to the relative 
advantage the child trained in the kindergarten has over 
the one with no such trahiing. 

The childi'en being six or seven years of age, as the 
result of the above condition, we begin to teach them read- 
ing when they enter the primary grade. The room is full, 
of course, say fifty. The sheep are not separated froui the 
goats — in other words, the teacher has as yet no idea how 

54 



many of these fifty will work into the higher class, the 
middle or the chart class (called " chart " to avoid calling- it 
the "low" class). She begins, however, the first day to 
form an estimate of the pupils' aptness, and by the end of a 
week she has them in three divisions — that she may handle 
them more easily. These divisions are constantly changing 
their 'personnel during the fii-st month, at the end of which 
time each becomes more settled. The slowest pupils must 
have more time than the more receptive ones. Once in our 
experience we had no chart class. In fact, we had no 
middle class, but had two divisions of the same work. The 
children seemed even in their ability. 

The first morning the teacher writes upon the black- 
board the following: f\ Z, m, >/, r, .s, «, e, o, iny^ ings, iglit, 
ights — these thirteen phonograms — called so because they 
represent a sound taught as a unit. She writes them on 
the blackboard and she has them on big gay cards that she 
holds before the pupils; and maybe she has birds on the 
blackboard, each cariying in its bill a phonogram — any 
way, every way, to make them interesting. These phono- 
grams ai-e sounded, no letters are pronounced as such. 
With these and all other phonograms it is necessary that 
the teacher be like Chaucer's parson — "first he^w^rought 
and afterward he taught." She must be able to do, to 
sound them correctly herself before she teaches them. 

Three lines of woi'k are carried on from the first day : 

1. Sight Reading. 

2. Drill in Phonograms. 

3. Ear Training. 

Sight words are taught a few each day until the whole 
list, eighty-three words, are recognized easily. On or by 



the seventh day they know /, ail, hoy, see, erd, Jacl-, to, 
too, tico, do, does. Do, tnilh, egg. See, see, an, A, are, at, like, 
fruit, cow, me, good, apjyle, dog, girl, water, drink, looks, 
yoa, can, old, any, a. 

Each day, beginning with the first, sight reading is 
introduced by means of little lessons written on the l^lack- 
board in script, like this: 



1 


2 


3 


4 


I see. 


Do see. 


Do you see ? 


Do see Jack ! 


I see you. 


Do see me. 


Do you see me ? 


Does Jack see me ? 


See me. 


Do see Jack. 


I see Jack. 


Jack sees you well. 



This lesson is based on the word see; others are on eat, 
look, drinli, etc. A!rn,.are and is are hard to remember, and 
mnch drill in sentences in script on the blackboard is 
necessary. 

Is Jack a dog ? He is not. 

He is a boy. You are a boy. 

I am Jack. I am not a dog. 

I am not like a dog. I am like you. 

Is the girl well? The boy is not well. 

Is the fruit good ? Fruit is good to eat. 

Eggs are good to eat. Water is good to drink. 

Bread and milk is good, too. 

The whole class looks at the board, whis]3ers the 
whole sentence together, the teacher calls on Ben or Har- 
riet, or perhaps the whole class, to read it aloud. This 
mental preparation is valuable. The teacher hears the 
whisper and corrects any word wrongly called. 

Long after this, when pupils have finished primer and 
first reader and are using the second reader, they continue 
to prepare mentally the whole sentence before reading any 
of it, and if they then halt or '"^ call " a Avord we say, " JN^ow 
you have prepared your sentence — i)lease read it." 

56 



The phonograms spoken of in the beginning of" this 
article, /", I, in, n, r, .s, htg, ings, iyld, iyhts, a, e, o, are 
drilled npon for tAvo or three minutes several times each 
day for abont eight weeks. No letter names are tanght dur- 
ing the first half year. After eight weeks, gradually, the 
following phonograms are : 

A! w, 1 , X4t/, hM/^ rr\sutJ/i <^i 
ir(/, Jrv, 0/, i/, xi, 0", ?UU, C^^?riX>AAJe/) 

0" y A/, uA/, tru/, (TUT, J , M/j --^.^y", f , 

iAA/^ iHy, aV, n^A/, J', ov, tnj, Ia^, 
Jlur, AA/UU, '^Lv, ^OA^U, jLov, -^m/, :L, 

(These phonograms appear in script l>ecaiise of the phonetic 
marking.) 

This work is a slow and gradual one, and each day 
during the two years a di'ill lasting five or six minutes in 

57 



all the i)honograms must be given. Unsystematized 
phonics ai-e chaos. It is as easy to begin to teach sounds 
on the first day as to begin to teach letters as in the past, 
and much more rational. The diacritical marking is simi)li- 
tied l)y means of the sight word which is taken as a whole, 
as t-each-Qv. 

Beginning with the first day the ear training begins. 
A sight word, say ail, is written on the blackboard and 
quickly the teacher places /'before it — sounded, remember, 
not named; f-ail, m-ail, n-ail, r-ail, s-ail, the successive 
sounds being uttered rapidly but separately. 



f-ail 


f-ail 


m-ail 


f-ill 


f-ails 


m-ail 


S-ani 


m-any 


f-all 


n-ail 


s-it 


s-eat 


f-an 


r-ail 


f-old 


1-ights 


f-at 


s-ail 


s-ill 


f-an 


f-ill 


f-ight 


1-and 


1-it 


f-in 


1-ight 


m-an 


r-ill 


f-it 


m-ight 


s-ing 


m-old 


f-ight 


n-ight 


m-eat 


f-in 


f-ights 


r-ight 


f-all 


n-at 


f-old 


s-ight 


f-ail 


n-ail 


f-olds 




1-ight 


r-ing 



This blend work is given as (1) and then mixed up as 
(2). Five minutes a day suffice for this work. 

The transition fi'om script to print is made without the 
pupils' knowing it. The cards spoken of have the phono- 
grams in print on one side, in script on the other. The 
print side is placed underneath the same character written 
in script on the blackboard and pupils told that they are the 
same. This worked so well that the first day the primer 
was used the pupils read nine pages. Some teachers put 
the work on the blackboard in print for a couple of days. 



58 



After six weeks of oral work from the blackboard, 
primers are given the pupils, which thej finish, 127 pages, 
in nine weeks. These are followed by first readers, and 
one class I know of reads 400 pages of supplementary 
work. The beginning of the second year they take the 
second reader. After finishing it, the classes have read 
Longfellow's " Hiawatha," the entire poem, with ease — 
with elegance in a few instances. 

So much foi- the details of the method. It is a method, 
and it has a name and a very high standing with us. 
Perhaps in an article like this it will be better to leave it 
nameless. No doubt many readers will recognize it. 

This work requires skill, accuracy and perseverance on 
the part of the teacher — these are indispensables. It 
requires a great amount of careful blackboard Avork. It is 
plod and drill and steady pressure da}^ by day, introducing 
a little new into each lesson and never neglecting for one 
lesson the old. By these means foundations are laid — 
foundations of power and purpose. The average child 
under this system for two years can read and can read well. 
When pupils have had their two years' training they have 
more than a vocabulary. It helps every department of 
primary work; the training of eye and ear, or attention and 
control manifests itself in each branch. 

The word and sentence method go hand in hand. 

If Kansas City had never heard of any method, with 
the experience she has had with children's reading, the first 
thing she would do would be to select a vocabulary that 
touches the environment of all children. She would teach 
these words as wholes, using them in and out of sentences, 
impressing them on the memory. These sight words would 
not all be of one syllable. 



VI. 

HOW READING IS TAUGHT IN CHICAGO. 
Ida a. Shaver. 

Principal Cooper School, Chicago. 

(It is not to be expected, in u city the size of Chicago, that 
any one school can represent the entire city in its manner of 
teaching^ readino-. The followino- method in use in one buildino; is 
especially valualjle inasmuch as it deals with the problem of teach- 
ing foreign children to read. — Ed.) 

Our particular problem is to teach the foreign child to 
read. To do this effectively, lines of least resistance are 
sought. A careful transition from the home life to that of 
the school is made through play, and the content of the 
first reading material presented is the I'esult of the adapta- 
tion of the child's home environment. 

By this means his motor and social proclivities are 
easily aroused and he is accordingly thrown into an active 
mood of participation from the first. It is only through 
doing and activity that the child can know; it is his nature 
to feel, to handle, to act, to do, and consequently a state of 
" passive receptivity " can in no way yield a true develop- 
inent. So it is not with the Greek myth nor " Hiawatha " 
that our little foreigner is regaled at first, but rather with 
the home life pictured and adorned through toy and play. 

60 



To illustrate: A small table and a set of doll's dishes 
of fair size and quality have been procured; the older girls 
of the school have contributed diminutive table-cloths, 
napkins and doilies exquisitely made by themselves, while 
an artistic little flov^er-vase, together with fancy bits of 
china which answer for vegetable dishes, platter, etc., have 
been picked up here and thei'e. These, with apron and cap 
made by the older girls for the prospective servant, 
together with a dainty Japanese tray and a quaint little 
salt-cellar doing service as a finger-bowl, complete the para- 
phernalia necessary for the serving of an artistic luncheon. 

Gradually the children learn to dii'ect the work, some 
of them suggesting the process of procedure, while others 
perform the labors. ■'' Spread the table-cloth upon the 
table,'' '■'Put the napkins in place," etc., until the table is 
set. Then the papa, mamma, baby and servant, who are to 
enact the role of the diners, are selected b}^ the pupils, 
whereupon they take their places, and proceed with the 
meal, while the remaining children suggest what shall be 
passed and how the participants shall most properly con- 
duct themselves. Later, the whole action is performed from 
the sentences written upon the ])oard by the teacher, and 
afterwards from sheets printed upon the school press. 

In analyzing this work, the force of the principle of 
motor activity is felt. The child does not remain a passive 
recipient of ideas, but carries them over into action. Every 
act is thus a mental whole, yet knit so closely with that 
which precedes and that which follows as to form a part of 
a larger whole. Thus the child feels the influence of a 
sequence of thought, realizes means to an end, and 
gains in the work a sense of unity and harmony of 
arrangement, a feeling of ])recision and completeness. 



61 



all of whioli lK'S])e{ik a growing mind and a prep- 
aration for the appreeiation of the coming poem or story 
in the light of both form and content; and herein is 
avoided the grave pedagogical error of feeding- • pupils 
upon the scrappy, disconnected action sentences so rife at 
present, such as, ''" Open the door," *"" Sit upon the chair," 
" Stand upon one foot," etc. 

Moreover, the participative and co-operative spirit has 
been emphasized and kindly feelings thus promoted, while 
in many cases the habits of the home life have been 
improved. Again, the motive of the reading work does not 
lie wholly with the teacher, but the child itself is cognizant 
of an end and purpose in his work. He reads to find out 
what to do, not merely for the sake of reading. 

Many other toys are used to round out an occupation 
in its entirety. A doll provided with an elaborate wardrobe 
by the older girls, a trunk, a doll-buggy and an express- 
wagon furnish the basis for a number of jaunts in Avhich the 
wax madam must needs be arrayed in her elaborate finer- 
ies, her trunk packed for the occasion, and herself ensconced 
in her buggy, attended by her parents, and received at the 
other end of the line by the community at large. 

Again, by washing the clothes, running them through 
the wringer, hanging them upon the line with diminutive 
clothes-pins, etc., another round of activity and fun com- 
pletes itself. 

Putting the baby to bed necessitates the cleansing of 
that individual, the use of towels, wash-cloth, brush, comb, 
tooth-brush, etc. — all of which appai-atus may be used inci- 
dentally as suggestive hints to the manipulators themselves. 

Another phase of the reading work is . the especial 
appeal to the child's inherent dramatic interest. Here the 

62 



imrsery rhyme and the fable ai-c utilized for pui-poses of 
dramatization. Jack and Jill are imperwonated by two of 
the children, the hill by three chairs of increasing height, 
the pail of water in evidence, and as one child recites the 
rhyme, Jack and Jill go up the improvised hill; later Jack 
reaches for the pail at the appropriate cue, and followed by 
Jill, tumbles upon the floor in finale effect. 

Little Jackie Horner veritably sits in the corner with 
a pie pan and a wax plum and performs the action as an 
accompaniment to another child's recitation of the rhyme. 
Tom Thumb, Cock Kobin, Jennie Wren, Simple Simon, 
Old Mother Hubbard, and many other of the rhymes, as 
well as most of " ^sop's Fables," are found to be suscep- 
tible of this crude treatment and are used in like manner. 
Later, the scenes are enacted to the teacher's written 
direction and afterward from printed matter. Again and 
again can this work be presented and repeated and yet the 
interest is never known to flag, for that dramatic sense of 
the child which queries continually, ^' AV^hat is going to 
happen next? Why does it happen? How does it hap- 
pen? " is ever bubbling and recurrent. In consequence the 
teacher is here given an opportunity to insinuate the neces- 
sary amount of repetition and drill without the usual 
nauseating eftects. 

Another phase of the reading attempt is the experi- 
mental nature work in which the children perform the 
experiments first from the teacher's oral direction and later 
from written or printed forms, such as, '^ Put this piece of 
iron near the wax. What happened to the wax? Put it 
near the fire. What happened?" etc., developing the 
notion of the magnet. Here the thought of realization 
through motor activity is cai-ried out as before. 

63 



Constructive seat work, also, is made another medium 
of teaching children to read. At first from oral, later from 
written or printed directions, the child proceeds to do the 
work, beginning with very simple dictations and gradually 
becoming more complicated. " Construct a rectangle 3 by 
3 inches. Divide it into one-inch squares. Cut out the 
coi-ner squares. Fold and paste so as to make a one-inch 
box." Here, as in the other work indicated, the child reads 
to find out what to do. His motive is rational. 

With this preliminary work which has given the child 
a considerable vocabulary, the allotted I'eaders ai'e taken up 
and phonics introduced, as the child feels a necessity for 
them to enable him to decipher new words. 

As often as practicable the child reads to his class that 
he may have the inspiration of an audience greater than 
one, in fact, that oral reading may have its excuse for being 
from the child's point of view. The class in turn reproduces 
the thought heard, thus insuring a growth in the power of 
auditory attention, the visual power being gained by the 
reproduction of the sentence or paragraph which has been 
glanced at simply. And with this care for the mechanism 
of the subject, reading becomes a study of content, much 
of the better literature which can be supplied in no other 
way being presented to the children in mimeographed 
form. 



64 



VII. 

HOW READING IS TAUGHT IN WASHINGTON, D. C 
Elizabeth A. Denny. 

Director of Primary Itistructioii, U'ashinghin. 

^o attempt has been made in this paper to set forth 
the details of the machinery of school-room work. The 
individnal preferences of the teacher together with the sur- 
rounding conditions of the school-room and appliances 
should determine these matters. Effort has been made 
alone to show the plan and purpose of Averk that is done. 

Preparation. 

If by learning to read the child is to become a thought 
reader his knowledge getting in the early part of the work 
must precede his word learning. From knowledge by 
means of experience to the forms of knowledge is the 
teacher's watch-word in teaching the child to read. The 
child must have the ability to interpret easily the contents 
of the printed page before he is made to read it, if reading- 
is to become pleasurable and pi-ofitable to him. To secure 
this ability he must be given many and varied opportunities 
foi- broadening his old experiences and for acquiring new 
ones. He must not be forced in the learning of symbols 
(words) until adequate, rational preparation has been made, 

65 



until a need is felt by him or desire is aroused in him for 
the expression of knowledge in which he has interest. The 
natural desire on the part of the child to give oi-al expres- 
sion, and later, written expression to what he himself has 
found out lessens greatly the drudgery of learning the 
forms of this expression and is ever the teaq^ier's oppor- 
tunity. The longer and nioi-e thorough this period of prep- 
aration the more readily is the formal part of the work 
secured. Believing this, the first two months of the school 
term are devoted to leading the child to investigation, 
experience getting, i-esulting to a perceptible degree in 
correct seeing and knowing, and to the adecpiate expression 
of the same before written symbols are given. The abun- 
dance of material that the season and environment oifer 
furnishes the subjects for these lessons. With the object 
in hand, bird, flower, or other thing, the child's knowledge 
of the subject is first ascertained. This knowledge is 
increased by the child's own eff'orts in response to sugges- 
tions by the teacher. His replies in single woi-ds or head 
shakes are changed to sentences Avhich he comes to use 
'naturally and easily. As the revelations of the various 
parts of the subject discussed become clear to him the child 
is led to express these relations aright and thus he comes to 
interpret easily and use the complex sentence with fluency. 
Care is taken that the efi'ort to secure good language does 
not become the supreme one and thus check the develop- 
ment sought. The teaching of language is always subor- 
dinate but at no time is it incidental. The main aim of 
every lesson is (1) the development of the power of 
acquiring, and (2) the acquisition of thought; the efl&cac}^ 
of the lesson depending largely on the wealth of knowledge 
of the same that the teacher possesses. She must know 

06 



the subject in its entirety so that out of her abundance she 
may be able to select and impress important truths in their 
proper relations. While the child is acquiring this knowl- 
edge there is a steady and natural increase in the vocabu- 
lary he uses. He is encouraged to paint and draw many 
of the objects studied, thereby strengthening his powers of 
observation and securing accui-acy of the same. 

Accompanying this knowledge getting, as restful 
employment, the child is given other lines of work (seat 
work) for the training of the eye and hand. He copies 
various simple forms from the blackboard by the use of 
pegs, corn, lentils or other appropriate material. He con- 
structs geometric forms according to measurement using 
the same materials, then he draws these forms on paper and 
cuts them. He consti-ucts boxes, envelopes, and other 
objects for the preservation of his own materials and uten- 
sils. Much manual dexterity is thus gained. The hand 
learns to respond quickly and accurately to what the eye 
sees. The difficulties in seeing and reproducing written 
forms ai-e so materially lessened by this preparatory train- 
ing that when the time comes for getting the word the child 
is not so engrossed with the form as to entirely lose the 
thought. A much longer period than two months could be 
profitably spent in this kind of preparation. 

The Written Symbol. 

In giving the forms the sentence method is used. 
This method has been to the child the avenue of the oral 
expression of his own thought and also the means of his 
thought getting from others. He has grown familiar with 
it in the pleasurable exercise of knowledge getting. This 
is the form from which he is to obtain thought from the 



pi-inted page. It is thei-efore the form in which he should 
first see the expression of his own thought. 

The chief aim of the lesson is not chang-ed when the 
child is learning written symbols. Power of acquiring and 
acquisition of knowledge are still the chief purpose of the 
lesson. Learning form is ever subordinate to thought 
getting but is never incidental. So also, as in the early 
lessons, these lessons are based on fields of knowledge 
which are of the most interest to the child. ]N^ature work 
in its varied forms ^- trees, flowers, fruits, animals, simple 
experiments illustrating natural phenomena, etc., — fur- 
nishes subjects for many of these lessons. The life of the 
city — the markets, mail-delivery, or street cars running 
past his door, — are made the basis of other lessons. The 
lessons are short and to the point. Observations are made, 
conclusions drawn, information added, main truths being so 
emphasized and arranged as to be left in possession of the 
child in proper sequence. Whenever it is possible to do it 
the work is enriched and interest in the subject is increased 
by the story and the poem. During investigations the 
teacher freely uses blackboard illustrations thereby increas- 
ing the interest of the child and inducing a closer and more 
accurate seeing. Through interest in the subject the child 
has talked freely and has been led through accurate observa- 
tion of facts properly related to accurate and full expression. 

Following this work comes the written expression. 
For the very first lesson the children are led to the expres- 
sion of some one simple sentence which the teacher writes 
on the board. This sentence is i-ead, erased, and rewritten 
several times, the children watching its growth each time. 
The children are then sent to the board to reproduce it 
from memory and afterwards to their seats for its repro- 



68 



dnction on papei- as well as on their desks with lentils or 

other objects. A few pnpils will need special care. These 

should be isolated for the purpose of repeating the work of 

))oth teacher and pupils but not for the purpose of showing 

them how to make the forms specifically. The work of 

imitating should not be eliminated especially with those 

children who are slow in reproducing forms. Even the 

slow child should not be allowed to copy; he should be 

made to imitate. This written seat work is required at the 

close of each reading lesson. When the knowledge of 

written form is meager it is simply a I'eproduetion of that 

given in the lesson, but with inci-easing mastery over form 

and expression comes the independent expression of 

thought obtained from the discussion of subjects. Though 

the first written sentences are imitations of that which the 

child has seen yet the rethinking of the same and their 

j-eproduction make them original with him. The child does 

not copy; he imitates the teacher in what she has done and 

thus makes his work his own. This is the beg-innino- of 

three kinds of work: composition, spelling, penmanship. 

In all written work no copying of form is allowed, children 

being made to feel from the fii'st that they have the power 

of recalling words once in their possession. 

To the first simple sentence taught additions are grad- 
ually made, one subject being discussed long enough to 
secure the written expression of several related facts, ^o 
weariness to the child ensues because of long continuance 
on one subject; change in matei-ial illustrative of the sub- 
ject bringing with it all needed interest. If, for instance, 
the subject "fruit" is being discussed, the various kinds 
that the season and ])lace aft'ord offier sufticient variety to 
pi-event monotony and also sufticient opportunity for bi-oad- 



ening the child's knowledge of the subject while enough 
written forms are taught to enable him to do both consecu- 
tive reading and writing on the same. In the written Avork 
few, if any, disconnected sentences are given to the child. 
Units of thought (the paragraph), work whose parts are 
sequential, are presented, the complex sentence being used 
early and frequently that the work may be natural and that 
the child may become accustomed to interpreting related 
thought jiroperly expressed. This written work, to result 
in power on the part of the child, necessitates a readiness 
on the part of the teacher for varied, logical expression and 
a knowledge of the laws of composition whereby she may 
wisely select her points and present them in order and 
completeness. The subjects under discussion are presented 
to the children by the teacher in the various forms of com- 
position, description, narration, comparison, the idiom 
peculiar to each being emphasized. Familiarity with these 
various forms of composition prepares the child for getting 
thought easily and profitably from corresponding forms on 
the printed page. 

Idioms. 

A few simple exercises are given the child for both 
oral and written expression to give him facility in the use 
of some of the most common idioms of the language. By 
the use of objects and pictures the teacher makes conditions 
the descriptions of which necessitate the use of some one 
or more idioms. Thus: "The apple which is near the cup 
is red;" '^ The one which is near the pear is green;" "I see 
a table on which are a glass and a book," et-c. Conditions 
are dictated in correct idiom to children for pictorial illus- 
tration on the board to enable the teacher to detei'mine 
whether or not words call up quickly in the child's mind 

70 



the con-ect mental picture. In a corresponding way idioms 
relating to narration and comparison are used until these 
become a part of the oral vocabulary which the child uses. 
The work is always interesting and is of the simplest char- 
acter, practically little more than play. 

Vocabulary. 

The words used in these lessons are largely those 
found in the reading matter to be used by the children. 
At the beginning of the school year the teacher makes a 
complete list of words to be taught, arranging the words 
according to parts of speech to aid her in a wise selection 
of words for each lesson. Hei- dependence on the reading 
book for teaching ends here. The subject that is selected 
is so treated in discussion as to involve the use of those 
words that ai-e employed in the reading mattei- for the easy 
reading of which the work is preparing the child. Natu- 
rally many words outside of this selected list are taught, 
the subject indicating what words are necessary for the 
clear statement of fact. The richness of this vocabulary 
depends on the breadth and culture of the teacher. A few 
of these words for lack of oppoi'tunity for frequent use are 
for the time lost. The teacher lays the most stress on those 
words which the child is first to meet on the printed page. 

SUPPLEMENTAKY READING. 

Much additional reading to that obtained daily from 
the board is given the child. In connection with each sub- . 
ject taught, the teacher prepares reading matter with the 
aid of the hektograph. These hektograph sheets prove 
very valuable in furnishing the child the needed opportunity 
for ready and repeated recognition of both the thought and- 

71 



the words taught. They also make the step between read- 
ing from the board and readmg from the book an easy one, 
as through their use the child's eye is trained to pass easily 
from one line to the next, to keep the place, to turn the 
page, etc. These supplementary lessons are used not only 
in the first year but also in the second and third years 
whenever subjects are completed, as no one reading book 
contains enough reading matter on a given subject or that 
which is adapted to the needs of each school. Many of 
these hektograph lessons are original with the teachei-. 
Others are adaptations, transformations of poems, or, if 
simple, the poems themselves. By means of these hekto- 
graph lessons the children are introduced to much that 
ranks with the best in literature. This enriches, broadens, 
and enlivens the subjects undei- discussion, increasing 
interest in them. In the second and third years this line of 
work is continued by the use of ^Esojd, Hans Andersen, 

and other authors. 

Books. 

When the child has a reading vocabulary of about two 
hundred words he is given the book. The ease with which 
he passes from script to print depends on the thoroughness 
and breadth of the preparatory work. By this time he 
readily recognizes script that represents his spoken words 
and has acquired much power in thought getting. Tlie 
transition from script to print therefore presents very few 
difficulties. The young child, too, sees hkenesses in foi'm 
much more readily than he sees diffei'ences. The construc- 
tion of sentences found in the readers presents no new 
difficulties to him because the frequent and natural use of 
the complex sentence in both his oral and written work has 
developed valuable power for its interpretation at sight. 



72 



The care of the teacher is to see that the child knows l)y 
sight every word in the matter to he read. No check to 
thong'ht hy the intervention of a new word should occur 
either in these first readings from the hook or in any of the 
printed reading matter given him during the first and 
second years of school life. The reading from hooks 
during this pei'iod, as in fact during most of the third year 
as well, is not so much for the acquisition of new knowl- 
edge as it is for learning the representation of knowledge 
acquired through experience and also for verifying it. For 
the teacher this reading from hooks should at all times be 
the test of the efficacy of her teaching. Books are used, 
therefore, only as subjects are completed. 

Silent reading is emphasized, the children being required 
to get thought by self effort before oral work is asked. In 
the second and third years, in addition to the oral expression 
of thought obtained from the printed page, the written 
expression of the same is required. This written work 
demands a knowledge of the various kinds of sentences; 
capitahzation and punctuation; of possessive forms; of quo- 
tations, etc., much of which the child has already obtained 
by the reading and writing that he has done under direction 
but which must be extended by specific work at this time. 

Spelling and Phonics. 

During the early part of the year form is learned 
wholly through the sense of sight. All the words are 
written many times by the children, cai'e being taken by 
the teacher to correct the spelling when it is wrong. The 
child takes the sentence as a whole. Later he discovers 
that the sentence consists of words and still later that the 
word is made up of separate letters. Fi-om this last point 

73 



of progress the ear as well as the eye is made to help in 
getting form spelling. No stress is laid on the learning of 
letters, the names being tanght incidentally. As the teacher 
writes the new words on the board she names the letters, fre- 
quent repetition soon putting the children into the possession 
of their names. Little oral spelling other than that which is 
voluntary with the child is expected during the first year. 

The child acquires form mostly through the eye, the 
much writing that he does, both at the blackboard and in 
the expression of his knowledge of subjects at seat woi'k at 
the conclusion of each lesson, serving to impress well the 
spelling of most of the words taught. 

A knowledge of the sounds of letters is given the child, 
but not primarily for the purpose of acquiring a vocabulary 
thi'ough their use. This is used as a means of recalling 
words once in the possession of the child, but whose forms 
he has for the moment lost, and also of acquiring the forms 
of a few easy words (phonetic) with whose meanings he is 
familiar. 

By the end of the first year the child is familiar not 
only with the names of the consonants but with the appro- 
priate sound of each. In the second and third years he 
leai-ns the diacritical marks, marks of accent, the hyphen. 
Stress is put on syllabication, as an aid in the division of 
words at the end of the line and in spelling. All of this 
work is of such a nature as to prepare the child for an intel- 
ligent use of the dictionary. 

Throughout all of the work the penmanship is taken 
care of. A close watch is kept in all the written work for 
the correct formation of letters, this watchfulness in most 
cases taking the place of special lessons in this subject. 



VIII. 
HOW READING IS TAUGHT IN NEW HAVEN, CONN. 

May R. Atwater. 

Some of the objects of teaching reading' are: 

(a) That the child may gain in power in penetrating 
or comprehending the thought of the printed page. 

(b) In the lower grades to teach the child to recog- 
nize in print the words and sentences which he already 
knows as sounds. 

(c) To increase the vocabulary of the child. 

(d) To cultivate the feelings and emotions, the spirit- 
ual nature of the child. 

(e) To cultivate an abiding taste for good literature. 
— Cou7'se of Study in Heading for the JVew Haven Public 
Schools. 

The law of Connecticut allows children to enter school 
at the age of five. To realize that the fact is appreciated 
by the mothers, it is only necessary to consult the monthly 
report of any first year teachei-. These reports show that 
the average age of the children at the beginning of the year 
is uniformly under six. It is these little ones, whose feet 
have not yet lost the unsteady step of babyhood, who are to 
be ^ led along the mysterious j^ath called " Learning to 
Re'ad." 

75 



Ask any little five-year-old, as he starts out on the first 
morning, what he is going to do at school, and nine times 
out of ten comes the answer: " I'm going to learn to read." 

Some teachers feel that a simple sentence is as easily 
rememhered as a word, and that it means infinitely more to 
the child, so they cater to the child's desire for reading by 
gi^ ing him the entire sentence to begin with. Others begin 
with the word method. The latter choose words which 
readily lend themselves to the formation of sentences, and 
by the end of the fii'st month it would be impossible for an 
observer to tell which method was used at the beginning. 

The Beginj-ting. 

Let us glance at a i-oom where the sentence is used. 
For decorative purposes the teacher may have brought an 
armful of golden-rod into her room. They have a little 
talk about it, some braver spirits volunteering a few 
remai-ks, while the others gaze abstractedly around the 
room. Then the teacher says: "Let us read about the 
golden-rod." At the magic word " read," their wandering 
attention is caught foi- a few minutes, and soon they are 
reading '^ The golden-i-od is yellow," printed on the front 
blackboard, once for each child in the group, printed over 
here by the golden-rod, etc. Perhaps the teacher has pro- 
vided herself, either by the aid of a hektograph or a rubber 
stamp, with forty-eight reproductions of the sentence. At 
dismissal each child is given a sentence to read to his 
mother. 

The next day it may be that they talk about other 
yellow things, and for theii' reading have " The sun is 
yellow." Later, " The ap])le is yellow." By this time the 
child is ready to select the word that says "yellow." 



Thence it is but a step to finding " The apple," '^ The 
golden-rod," etc. From thit,, the word and the sentence 
method are used in combination. For variety, action sen- 
tences are interspersed, as, " I can run." " I can jump." 
" I can see." " I can fly." The children suit the action to 
the word as they read. 

Thi-oughout the year the reading is connected with the 
literature, history, nature study, or whatever may be the 
subject of interest uppermost at the time. As books come 
more into use, it may be that only one or two blackboard 
lessons a week are based on these subjects. 

SUPPLEMENTAKY READING. 

While a large amount of supplementary reading is at 
the teacher's disposal, the Cyr Readers have been selected 
as the basal or drill series. To quote from our Course of 
Study : 

" If these books are propei-ly used as drill books, at the 
end of the first four yeai's of the child's school life he will 
be master of the vocabulaiy of these readers. Mastered 
bespeaks familiarity with (a) pronunciation, and the child 
as a i-ule should be taught to get at the pronunciation him- 
self by phonics; (b) use in sentences; (c) spelling after 
the first year if the word be one that the child will prob- 
ably use, later in life, in correspondence. The important 
relation of such mastery to the child's work in English 
must be apparent to all." 

The Cyr Primei- and Cyr First Reader are assigned to 
the first year. 

With the Primer vocabulary in mind, the teacher com- 
poses her daily l)lackboard or hektograph lesson during the 
first months of school. In November we are studying 



about the Pilgrims. From the Primer the words ivjiat^ 
going ^ hope^ some^ soon are selected to l^e taught. After 
presenting the words and giving a short drill on them, the 
teacher places a lesson something like the following on the 
blackboai'd. The children have heard how the Pilgrims 
suffered from hunger, and how eagerly they watched for 
the return of the "Mayflower," and so are ready to read 
understandingly : 

Good morning, little girl. 

What is your name? 

My name is Betty. 

What are you going to do, Betty? 

I am going to look for the "Mayflower." 

I hope it will come soon. 

We do not have much to eat. 
_ My papa is going to catch some fish. 

I hope he will catch some big fish. 

1 am going with you, Betty. 

Come on. Let us run. 
• I hope the " Mayflower '' will come soon. 

To have the child i-ead from the blackboard the lesson 
which he is to find in the book is poor economy. Much 
emphasis is placed on jweparing the lesson. It is impos- 
sible for the average teacher to wi'ite a series of connected 
sentences, possessing interest for the child, and giving the 
necessary i-epetition to the new words, without giving the 
matter previous thought. 

From the beginning the child is expected to read the 
sentence an a sentence, not as a series of words. " Study it 
to yourself," ^' Read it to me," are the directions frequently 
given. The childi-en soon get the idea, and an occasional 
lapse into "Where — did — you — get," etc., is quickly 
checked by the question, " Is that reading? " 

78 



At first they study in whispers. It is not wise to 
forbid this, for to these Uttle ones a word means a sound. 
After the fii-st month or two, it is well to gradually lead 
them to quiet studying. " See if you can think this sentence 
with your lips shut. I see Yetta is reading with her eyes, 
just as grown people do." These and similar cautions, 
coupled with patience and persistency on the part of the 
teacher, do much toward overcoming that which would 
otherwise develop into a bad habit. 

It is difficult to make absolute statements as to dates 
and pages, but it is safe to say that by the end of the first 
half of the year the majority of the children have read all 
of the Cyr and the Interstate Primers, and parts of some 
First Readers. 

Away back on that first day of schoolj when little five- 
year-old was reading about the golden-rod, another line of 
work was begun. Work which has been steadily converg- 
ing toward the reading, till some bright day the children 
hardly know how or when, they begin to " find out " words 
for themselves. 

Phonics. 
There is a variety of ways of teaching phonics in ^ew 
Haven. Some teachers begin with the short sounds of the 
vowels and with the consonants, followed by the long- 
sounds of the vowels. Keeping the long and short sounds 
far apart avoids confusion. All sorts of devices are used 
to make the sound study interesting, but care must be 
taken lest the device or story prove so fascinating in itself 
that it overshadows the point of the lesson. With the 
teaching of individual sounds comes the ear training. First 
the word is given by the teacher in slow pronunciation, 
later the sentence. This work conies in admirably at rest 



periods. " You may all s-t-a-n-d. You may point to what 
I name, w-i-n-d-o-w, f-l-o-o-r, s-k-y, f-l-a-g, etc. You 
may touch your h-e-a-d, f-o-o-t, Ic-n-e-e.''^ As soon as they 
do this readily, and without glancing at each other to see 
what is meant, they are ready for the entire sentence. Such 
directions as : •'' Face the back of the room, stand on your 
right foot, touch your left arm," may be given in slow pi*o- 
nunciation. It is found best to give much of the first work 
in car training in the form that requires action on the 
child's part, for in this way only can the teacher be sure 
that each one of the foi'ty-eight knows what is said. By 
the middle of October the children are ready for the com- 
bination of sounds to form words. Much drill is given on 
words with like endings, as — r-tng^ s-ing, w-ing. At first 
this is done in concert that the child may get the sequence 
of sound by hearing others, then individually, that he may 
learn to listen to his own voice. Sometimes the complete 
list is placed on the board at the beginning of the lesson. 
At other times the teacher says : "^ Tell me all the ick 
words that you know," and writes as the children dictate. 
There is no time set for connecting the phonic work 
with the reading. Some of us begin before Thanksgiving, 
and some after Christmas. All are making use of the 
child's knowledge of sounds by the end of the first half of 
the yeai'. At the end of the year the children have been 
taught, in addition to the jjrevious work, .sA, wh, ch, th, ow, 
ou, oi, otj, ir, ur, er, and an almost endless number of pre- 
fixes and terminations, as, Je, in, och, est, etc. As the 
knowledge of sounds increases, the word method drops out 
of sight. Only such words as thought, again, enough are 
taught as wholes. Befoi'e a lesson from the " Cyr Reader" 
is taken up the new words are placed on the board, and the 



80 



children find out what they arc. If necessary .the meaning 
is discussed. In the supplementary reading, however, no 
time is spent on word drill. The children are hungry for 
stories, and it is wonderful how they gain, in power as they 
steadily devour the unlimited and interesting matter pro- 
vided. In one room last year, two thirds of the children 
read all of the " Cyr Primer," " Interstate Primer," " Finch 
Primer," Hodskins' "Little People," "Cyr Reader," 
Atwater's " Stories from the Poets," Beckwith's " In Myth- 
land," Arnold's ■■ Stepping-Stones to Literature," No. 1, 
Smythe's " Old Time Stories," and most of " Little Folks of 
Other Lands." There is usually a " thii-d class " which 
does not accomplish nearly' as much as the other two 

classes. 

Seat Work. 

There is one phase of the teaching of reading which is 
often ignored by speakers and writers. It is not, however, 
ignored by the primary teacher. Her reading seat work is 
carefully planned, and is made to help the reading lesson 
in various ways. Lack of space forbids mention of many 
varieties, but here are a few: An envelope, containing 
hektographed outline pictures and words to match, is given 
to the child. If hahj is the new word of the day, the child 
finds the picture of a baby and then selects all the words 
baby and arranges them under the picture. Later he 
arranges all the words in the envelope under their corre- 
sponding pictures. A reading lesson is hektographed on 
the face of a manila envelope, and also on heavy paper. 
The latter is cut into phrases, or, later, individual words, 
and placed within the envelope. The child reads from the 
envelope in the class, then takes it to his seat and repro- 
duces the lesson from the material inside the envelope. A 



box containing several tluplieates of each woi-d is given 
him, and he is told to make all the sentences that he can 
beginning with " Where " or ^^ I have " or whatever may be 
the word needing special drill. 

Perhaps a little direct reference should be made to the 
extract from our Conrse of Study which heads this ai-ticle. 
The entire work in reading, throughout the year, tends 
toward accomplishing object a, h and c. These are 
attained by the word teaching and the phonic Avork. 

d. This may be done by wise and sympathetic ques- 
tions and comments concerning the subject matter read. 
The thoughts of kindness to animals, of thoughtfulness for 
othei's, of obedience, of patience, of love and of sympathy 
may well be brought out in the various reading lessons. 
To do this requires infinite tact and delicacy of touch on 
the part of the teacher. The child is quick to feel if the 
questions are asked in a perfunctory way, and unle.ss the 
teacher really feels a responsive thrill to the thought of the 
lesson, she had better keep still. 

e. The only way to cultivate a taste for good litera- 
ture is to give the children the best all the time. What 
Professor 0\Shea says, apnypos of action, may be readil}^ 
applied to this subject. 

'"'" There is no way to negate an action, but to supplant 
it by another action." 

What we want in the training of our children is to 
habituate them to right lines of action. Science reveals to 
us that charactei- at any moment is determined by the ways 
in which one has acted in the past. The organism gets 
adjusted to a certain kind of reaction, and it goes shooting 
along in maturity in the direction in which it was started in 
childhood. 

82 



Below is given a list of the supplementary reading for 
the first and second years from which the teacher may 
select at her discretion : 

First Year. 

Atwater'.s "Stories from the Poets." 

Badlam's ''Child Life." 

Baldwin's "Reading hy Grades," No. 1. 

Bass's "Beginners' Reader." 

Beckwith's"" In Mythland." 

Bee he's " First Year Nature Book." 

Davis' "Nature Stories for Youngest Readers." 

"Finch Primer." 

Hodskins' "I^ittle People's Reader." 

"Interstate Primer." 

"Ligiits to Literature," No. 1. 

Nash's "^Fsop's Fahles." 

Norton's " Heart of Oak," No. 1. 

Scudder's " Riverside Primer." 

Smythe's "Old Time Stories." 

" Stepping Stone to Literature," No. 1. 

Thompson's "Fairy Tale and Fahle." 

Turner's " Primer and First Reader." 

Second Year. 
Baldwin's "Reading by Grades," No. 2. 
Bass's "Plant Life." 
Bass's " Animal Life." 
Carroll's "Around the World." 
Craik's " Bow-wow and Mew-mew." 
Ford's "Nature's Byways." 
Grimm's " Fairy Tales." 
Johonnot's " Cats and Dosrs." 
Scudder's "Verse and Prose." 
"Stepping Stones to Literature," No. 2. 
Strong's "All the Year Round," — ".Spring," "Summer." 
"Interstate Second Reader." 
"Little Folks of Other Lands." 
Turner's " Stories for Young People." 
Warren's " From September to June." 
Wilson's "Nature Study." 

83 



IX. 

HOW READING IS TAUGHT IN CLEVELAND, OHIO. 

Emma C. Davis. 

General Supervisor, Cleveland, Ohio. 

I have been asked to tell how we go about to teach the 
little six-year-old how to read, — to tell "the very first steps 
and all the way along, and the reasons for the methods 
pursned." 

The Child. 

As we are trying to teach the child and not the snb- 
ject, let ns, for a moment, rest our gaze upon him. Here 
he is, a wondering, inquiring little being, grasping far and 
near for every stray bit of information and fitting it in with 
what he has already acquired and trying as Ijest he can to 
piece out his limited knowings with each new bit and to 
weave it into the warp and woof of knowledge. 

Then comes the teacher studying the child to learn 
what are the points of contact of his inner life with the 
outer world; what are the lines of these, his wonderings, 
inquiries; along what paths his flights of fancy lead him; 
what his desires are; what are the missing links in his 
knowledge of facts — in a word, what are his interests in 
life. 

-Then finding these, as we do, in the circle of home-life, 
ill the nature-world and in the world of social activities, the 

d4 



teacher next seeks to find the partieuhir i)hases of these 
which are nearest to her children in their special experi- 
ences and conditions, and to reflect these in the daily work 
of his edncation. For it is npon these inherent interests of 
the child that we mnst base onr plans of woi'k in order that 
the iini)nlse to learn, to do, comes from within, and the 
child grow through his self-activity. This principle of 
growth through self-activity is one of the fundamental 
truths which constitute the body of our educational creed. 
Another of these is, " Self-expression is the highest yearn- 
ing of the human spirit next to the hope of immortality.'- 
That self-expression leads to self-realization is still another. 
Self-realization is dependent upon two factors: the inner 
child, — his impulses, desires, volitions, thoughts; and upon 
the outer life, — his spiritual and materialistic environment; 
and we count this, that or the other method as valuable 
only as it is rightly used as an instrumentality in enabling 
the child to gi'ow, through his own activities, to a more and 
more perfect self-realization. 

The Method. 

We do not think that we in Cleveland have found a 
" royal road " to learning to read and we are still in the 
attitude of learners (and I hope shall continue to be so ) . 
But we have a plan which, while it is definite enough to be 
a guide, is yet sufficiently eclective and flexible to permit 
individual freedom to the teacher and to suit the varying 
conditions of a great city where the several sections are as 
different as the difterent nationalities which occupy them. 

The following is a brief outline of this method in its 
two phases which are somewhat distinct at first but which 
finally merge into one. We begin with what we call 

85 



" Thought Reading/' which is the sentence method primar- 
ily, with the learning of words as entities, as complemen- 
tary. This thought reading we carry along alone as 
blackboard work in script, until the childi'en have become 
familiar with this new avenue of expression, and have 
acquired quite a little stock of words and jDhrases. These 
woi-ds and phrases are such as have universal value as 
being common forms of thought or as expressive of the 
phases of life under consideration. These vary somewhat 
according to the section of the city, with the season of the 
year and for other causes. A record of these words and 
phrases is kept upon the blackboard. 

During this period the teacher skilfully weaves into the 
lesson such words as she knows she is soon to need in the 
work in phonics. As we begin our phonic work with the 
short sound of r/, such words as ca]), pla/d, has, and, are 
found among the words recorded upon the blackboard. 

Beside the learning by sight of these words containing 
simple phonetic elements and which are later to be ana- 
lyzed, the teacher has meanwhile been given *"' phonic 
exercises" which constitute an exercising of the vocal 
organs, practice in enunciation and pronunciation, training 
of the ear, without, as yet, any application being made to 
visible forms. 

When the teacher finds her children ready foi- it, she 
begins to inti'oduce them to the written signs ibr these 
sounds by means of first analysis and then synthesis of 
phonic words, and they are thus launched upon this new 
venture — the learning of words — not, as hitherto, by asso- 
ciation and inference alone, but by unlocking them with 
the key of sounds. Analytic and synthetic exei'cises in 
phonics are daily adjuncts to the reading. Take, for a single 



86 



instance, the ''making out" or "making up" of such lists 
as:, and, stcmd, sand, band, hand, land, ring, sing, bring, 
sting, etc. Notice that these are all words in almost daily 
use with the children; we make it a great point that no 
w^ord appears in these lists that is not included in the 
child's '' working vocabulary," and unfamiliar words are 
given only where the horizon widens and new ideas are 
embodied in hitherto unknown words. 

It will be readily seen what a rapidly increasing vocab- 
ulary is w^ithin the accomplishment of the youngest learners. 
The phonetic work marches side by side with the " thought 
reading," lending its aid more and more to the latter, as all 
words in the thought reading which come within this ever 
widening range of phonetic analysis are learned by this 
method. In ftict, as soon as sufficient facility in makino- 
out words by sounds has been accomplished, we make the 
phonetic work, whenever possible, the basis of all our read- 
ing study to the end that the child may begin at the earliest 
moment to be self-helpful. The earlier he can be set to 
"study out" new lessons for himself — not relying alone 

on memory and inferences for getting the words the 

earlier is his self-directive power set into operation. And 
the earlier he reads with the set pui-pose of acquiring foi- 
himself from the printed page its treasure of thought, the 
sooner is begun his career as a " free citizen." 

Appleton's charts and readers are the basis of the 
special work in phonics while the thought reading is con- 
tinued as supplementai-y to the work in language, in its 
several phases — home life, life in nature and civic life, with 
its social activities. The language work and reading are 
thus so closely correlated as to be almost inseparable. 
Indeed, w^e believe that Reading and Composing are 



co-ordinate educational processes, for the twofold purpose 
in the mastery of the symbols of language is the acquisition 
of the ability to put into permanent form one's own 
thought, as well as to read the thoughts of others. 

The Application of the Method. 

In the following illustrations of the beginning steps, I 
doubt not that some will think we take rather a snail's 
pace; that we give too limited a range in these earlier 
lessons. Possibly this is so, but this is our effort to be psy- 
chological as to manner of presentation as well as psycho- 
logical as to subject-rnatter and miethod of presentation. 

The child has now come into the power of formulated 
thought, it is true, and should begin to learn to read by 
reading thoughts, i. e., sentences, and he should not be led 
aside into the shallows of single words — to be functioned 
after learned; but, on the other hand, he should not be 
submerged in the deep waters of too many, too varied, too 
complex sentences. 

iLLUSTPtATIVE LeSSONS. 

With these considerations in mind we begin our very 
first lessons. These lessons, as has been said, are interpre- 
tations of the child's interests in home life, the world of 
nature, and the social world, and such topics as the home, 
playmates, Hiawatha, the boy Columbus, autumnal plant 
life, wind and weather, etc., are the subjects of the earlier 
reading lessons. 

The words written in parentheses represent simple 
outline pictures which the teacher draws — as rapidly, 
almost, as she writes — these help to embody the thought 
and are the means of avoiding a too rapid introduction of 

88- 



words, while giving a variety and scope otherwise unat- 
tainable. 

Here is the type of a first lesson. The teacher having 
provided herself with twigs, leaves, nuts, seeds and flowers, 
gives one of these to one of the children who stand before 
her with expectant eyes and minds and heai-ts aglow: 

She asks, "John, what have you?" John replies, "I 
have a twig." The teacher says, ■'" I will write what John 
told me." Writes, "I have a (twig)." "John, read your 
story." 

John reads with help. Mary also reads John's story. 

Then the teacher gives Mary a flower, and, as before, 

Mary '' tells " and " reads,'' " I have a (flower) ." The lesson 

is thus continued until this is the result: 

I have a (twig) . 

I have a (flower) . 

I have a (chestnut), etc. 

Thus the phrase " I have " is introduced and is placed 
upon the blackboard in a space reserved for "the dic- 
tionary." 

The next lesson may be on two objects in the hand of 
the child with the following result: 

I have a (pear) and a (peach), etc. 

Thus " and " is added to the dictionary. I*^ext to "^ I 
have," in nearness to the child's experience, is '^ I see." A 
type lesson would be: 

I see a (flower) and a (vase), etc. 
Thus " I see " is added to the dictionary. 
A playmate is presented in the picture of Lily. Lily 
says : 

See my red (dress) ! 

See my white (ajn-on) ! etc. 

8t» 



Color names are written in chalk of tlie color men- 
tioned. Thus this use of " see " and the word "" my " are 
added. 

Then, in connection with the talks about home, " I 
love" is introduced: 

1 love my (mother). 
I love my (father), etc. 

The foregoing- lessons are simply partial outlines of 
type lessons to show the mode of procedure and no attem])t 
has been made to reproduce an actual lesson. 

This next lesson was given last fall and shows how 
early it is possible to closely correlate seasonal language 
work and the reading. 

The Wood Asteus. 

(This lesson followed a language lesson on the wood 
aster. The word ■' have " had been taught in the phi*ase " I 
have.") 

The teacher gave each child a spray of wood asters 
and let the children talk about it, without questioning. 
The teacher also talked about the beauty of the flowei-, its 
coloi', its home in the shady woods, etc. 

Teacher. " I wonder how many little girls and boys 
can tell me something that all wood asters have. We will 
talk about more than one because they live in little families 
just the wa}^ you live." 

Warner. Wood asters have (i)etals). 
Grace. Wood asters have (pistils), etc. 

After each sentence the children talked al)out the j^art 
mentioned. 

This next lesson followed a language lesson on " Ilia- 

'.»0 



watha." (The word '^ saw " had been taug-bt tbe day 

before, after a trip to a neighboring field.) 

Teacher. '" Children, to-day I shonld like to play that 

we are going to Hiawatha's home. Let us shut our eyes. 

^ow take hands and we will all go together. We have 

had a long journey, but now we are there. I wonder if 

you can tell me some of the things Hiawatha saw when he 

was a little child just like 3'ou." 

Maine. Hiawatha saw the (sun). 
John. Hiawatha saw the (sea water). 
Olive. Hiawatha saw the (pine trees), etc. 

Conversations, stories, poems, moi-ning talks, all find 
their reflection in these thous'ht readino: lessons. 

The following lessons were given just before the spring 
vacation in April. These exemplify " self-expression." 

Twigs., 

" We have many little twio:s. This one is a pale grayish 
green with a small pointed bud on it. Harry's is dark brown with 
large pointed buds. It has a bud at the end. It is the largest. 
The buds feel very sticky. They have a very hard brown coat. 

"Margaret's twig is paler than Harry's. It has many little 
round buds in a l)unch at the end of the twig. 

" We have liad Beatrice's twig a long time. It- has some tiny 
green leaves just peeping out. Oh ! see the lovely green leaves 
on Edith's twig. Fred has a branch where the little pink flowers 
have come out — before the leaves woke up. 

" Eold says, 'My twig is just like Fred's, but the little flowers 
are green.' " 

Little Miss Spring. 

"She looks like a little fairy. Her dress is a lovely green 
with a long, flying sash. It has pretty yellow stars all over it. 
The stars are the dandelions. She came from Mother Nature's 
work-shop." 

A conversation on the approaching vacation gave the 
Ibllowing : 

91 



" I am goino- to have a good time this vacation. I will go to 
the woods. I will see the woodpeckers. They are tapping on the 
trees. J will tind the flowers thtit are hiding. I will listen to the 
streams. The stre-ims are moving and stretching. They will sing 
sweet songs to me." 

Devices. 

In Cleveland we use no device as an essential part of 
method. We recognize that certain devices stimulate a 
self-emulative spirit that is helpful in bi-inging about an 
exhilaration and mental alertness; but we feel that this is 
not to be compared in importance with the power that 
comes from that intense desire aiid deep abiding purpose of 
getting from the printed page the thoughts and expei'ience 
of others, which it should be the teacher's aim to inculcate. 
We use devices wherever they may properly be employed, 
as for instance, in the mechanics of reading. 

" The Game" we recognize as one device of universal 
value, for it is the child's natural avenue of self-expression. 
One game, which 1 recollect, was given as a test of the 
children's power to sound out new words. 

The teacher said, "Let us play we went to see 

A Menagerie," 

(The w^ord menagerie was separated into syllables and marked 
diacritically, as were the other hard words.) 

" We saw there ever so man}^ animals. We saw a tiger and a 
whole caije full of monkeys. We saw a tall giraffe and a hum|)ed- 
backed camel," etc. 

Diacritical Marks 

Are used from the beginning of the phonic work, but as 
soon as the child learns, for instance, that cd is given the 
long sound of «, the marking is omitted. The children are 
not specially drilled in making the marks, but we find that 



they have an intelligent appreciation of phonics by their 
intuitive use of them. 

When v^^riting their stories they frequently mark new 
words, this being an evidence of the effort of the child to 
help himself by means of this " power over the sounds." 

From Sckipt to Print. 

This transition comes early with us, and since we have 
been using the' vertical writing, the children find no diffi- 
culty in recognizing the identity of the Avritten and printed 
form. The teacher simply prints beneath the written words 
for a few lessons befoi'e beginning to use printed matter. 

Accessory Written Work. 

From the beginning the muscular sense comes to aid 
the eye and ear as another avenue to the intelligence. 

The children begin their writing lessons with simple, 
easily formed words. As soon as they can wi'ite two or 
three words, phrases and sentences are attempted. Hold- 
ing here also the theory that the child should deal with 
thoughts, we give even in the earliest days such exercises 
as these. 

The lesson having been on '"' N^at and His Garden," 
and the pictures of his gardening tools having .been placed 
upon the board, the children write as follows (the first sen- 
tence having been put upon the board) : 

Nat has a (spade). 
Nat has a ( rake ) . 
Nat has a (hoe), etc. 

After this the wi'itten work follows along with the 
advancement of reading, and includes the filling in of 
elliptical Sentences; using words in original sentences, 

93 



thereby composing little themes and leading- up to the 
written language work. 

COKRELATIONS. 

Spelling. We give a daily dictation of at first a single 
word, and soon a sentence containing known words. This 
is the beginning of our written spelling work, which con- 
tinues throughout the year, keeping pace with the reading. 

Written JLayiguage \Vorl\ During the latter part of 
the first term we begin to get from the first and second 
divisions of a noi-mally constituted class, small repi'oduc- 
tions — the budding of the composition work. These first 
reproductions, founded on the thought reading, lead to the 
later independent composition work. This con-elation of 
language and reading and composition work is a separate 
subject in itself, and can only be thus lightly touched upon 
here. 

Arithnietiv. This is also correlated, and in this way — 
if the lesson in language and reading happens to be upon 
leaves and flowers, then the concrete examples ai-e upon 
these same objects. 

Manual Training. The color and form study espe- 
cially aifords subjects for the reading lesson. 

The Dictionary. 

Frequent reference has been made to this — the lists 
of woi'ds and phrases recorded on the blackboard as they 
were learned. The lists serves to keep before the eyes of 
both teacher and pupils words which have been presented. 

This dictionai-y has two phases: during the earlier 
days it is a record of all words and phrases learned and is 
usually kept in two columns — in the first column are the 

94 



phrases. and non-phonetic words, as, for instance, "I have," 
^'I see," "This is," "I love," "my," "pretty," etc.; in the 
second column are the words to be sooner or later analyzed 
phonetically, such as " am," " have," " can," " has," etc. 

After the pupils have become well established in read- 
ing, and most of the common words and phrases have 
become familiar, the dictionary takes on the second phase 
— words are now classed according to association in 



ight as: 








The Sun 


The Wind 


The Rain 


The Sky 


shines 


blows 


falls 


blue 


melts 
warms 


whistles 
strong 


drops 
washes 


gray 
clear 


hides 
bright 


gently 
bends 


soaks 
wakes 


gloomy 
clouds 


light 


breaks 


softens 


fleecy 



Amount of Heading Accomplished. 

In addition to this reading work in connection with 
the language work, our first grade pupils all read through 
two graded First Readers, and most of them accomplish 
another Supplementary Reader besides. 



95 



X. 

HOW READING IS TAUGHT IN THE BIRMINGHAM 
(ALA.) SCHOOLS. 

LouLA Bradford, 

I am asked to tell, in a brief paper, how primary read- 
ing is taught in our schools. Usually telling is much easier 
than doing, ])ut where is the primary teacher that can 
reduce to writing the warmth, the color and inspiration, 
which must give birth and life to any mechanical forms 
employed with a class of beginners? 

AVhen our little ones first enter school, they have 
already learned to use intelligently, in conversation, several 
hundred words, or at least to understand their meanings, 
as they hear others use them. These words are only so 
many sounds recognized through the ear. Interesting 
stories and conversations soon reveal these words to the 
teacher, and she hastens to make as many of them as pos- 
sible, recognizable to the eye in both their script and print 
representation. When words outside the child's oral 
vocabulary are needed, the teacher supplies them, and sees 
that they are used correctly. 

The child as he enters school is exclusively " ear- 
minded," so far as language is concerned; the teacher's 
task is to make him " eye-minded " as well. In accom- 

96 



plishiiig this task there are two important phases or lines 
of work which requii-e onr attention from the ontset: (1) 
that phase which occasions and develops thonght and 
stimulates its natural expression, and (2) the mechanical 
phase which includes drills in the use of the symbols of 
thought, and which enables the child to use automatically 
certain words and phrases and combinations of words and 
phrases. 

These two phases of work are mutually dependent and 
claim equal attention from the teacher. If the attention is 
restricted to the first phase, the child's acquirement of 
word forms will be very slow, and his mastery of reading 
as an instrument of knowledge will be unnecessarily 
delayed. If, on the other hand, the second phase monopo- 
lizes the attention, the work degenerates into a lifeless, 
machine-Kke drill; the mental life of the child receives no 
nutriment, and his spiritual nature is deprived of the 
insights and inspirations afforded by the beautiful in nature 
and in literature. The child's power and skill in these two 
lines of work, together with his home envii-onment and 
special interests, determine largely the subject matter of 
our lessons, and the special methods and devices we may 
use to accomplish the end we have in view, i. e., teachino- 
the child to read. 

On the mechanical side, the following objects are to be 
attained during the first year in reading: (1) the recogni- 
tion through the eye of the child's oral vocabulary; (2) the 
easy and fluent expression of thought fi-om this written or 
printed vocabulary; (3) some degree of power to discover 
for himself the pronunciation of new words; (4) the rapid 
extension of his speaking and reading vocabulary; (5) cor- 
rect pronunciation, inflection and modulation. 



97 



The first lessons in reading are given from the bhick- 
board. No books are used, no copying is required, at first. 
When the child learns to see as well as hear wotrls, then the 
7miscular sense may re-' iiforee the eye; he must make the 
forms for himself by imitation. The subject matter of 
these first lessons is the reproduction of simple conversa- 
tional and objective language Avork inculcating love of 
home, nature and country. During the first few weeks we 
combine the "Word" and "Sentence" methods. Words 
and phrases are taught by sight and these are combined 
into sentences as soon as possible. We begin with the 
word because it seems to be the natural starting-pomt for 
the little ones. In learning to talk the little child does not 
express himself in complete sentences. His first attempt 
at expression is invai'iably in words, usually the " key- 
words " to his thoughts. He does not say "' I see a kitten," 
but simply " kitty ! " 'Ilie name of the object wanted is 
given, as " watei%" " a})i)le," etc. Our experience shows 
that the analogy holds good in reading, (rradually we 
combine words and phrases and give him complete sen- 
tences. In teaching words we observe the following order: 
1. The Idea represented by the woi-d is developed l)y 
means of objects and pictures. 2. The word as a sound is 
emphasized foi- the ear. 3. The word as a foi-m is pre- 
sented to the eye. 4. The word form is copied. The 
muscular sense exercised in uttering and in copying the 
words strengthens the ear and eye impressions. 

The fiist Avords, phrases and sentences to l)e taught 
are suggested by the child's oral vocabulary, and are 
always developed in the oral work. Great care is exercised 
in the selection of subject matter as well as in the selection 
of words for our lessons. The subject matter may be 

98 



varied, but it is so arranged and planned that the leading 
thought of each day's lesson will naturally introduce that 
of the next. The central theme may be continued for days 
and even weeks. The indiscriminnte or hap-hazard selec- 
tion of words is to be avoided by the careful preparation of 
a list of Avords suggested by the subject mattei-. This list 
includes (1) words of interest to the child, (2) connecting 
words, (3) sound words and (4) root words. The work is 
begun in script, not simply l)ecause the script is easier to 
reproduce than print, but because it is the form he will use 
in life; pi-actice in rejDrodncing the ])rinted forms is waste 
of time, as experience proves that the transition from the 
written to the printed form presents no obstacles worthy of 
consideration. The child learns more readily that which 
he attempts to reproduce, and at the same time learns the 
art of writing. AYe continue to teach words as wholes for 
the first four or five weeks, but as the lunnber of words 
increases, there is danger of confusion. When the child 
forgets a word, it must be given to him again; he has no 
power to recall it except by association, noi- has he as yet 
any abihty to help himself with new words; he is entirely 
dependent upon others. To overcome this, we now intro- 
duce phonic analysis. 

In the method heretofore used, the memory only has 
been exercised. JSTow he begins to compare and to analyze 
familiar words, and to construct new ones. The first exer- 
cises with the phonetic elements of words are given to train 
the ear, and then by the use of the blackboai-d. the children 
are taught to associate the sounds of the word with their 
written symbols. ^ After learning a nunibei- of sounds, the 
children become moi-e self-helpful nnd their i-eading vocab- 
ulary increases rapidly. We can now use "sound words" 

99 



L.ofC. 



and " root words " to advantage. From each of sneh root 
words as an^ and, all, end, ice, in, oil, ore, etc., the child 
will soon learn to construct a series of new words by pre- 
fixing consonants. The teacher will find many ways to 
help the child in enlarging his vocabulary, such as by add- 
ing letters or syllables to root words, making lists of words 
that rhyme, and by many other devices too numerous to 
mention here. 

At this point we find the greatest need of patience and 
perseverance. Some children are quick to appreciate 
sound, some are slow: some confuse one sound with 
another, while others still cannot make certain sounds after 
weeks of drill. Individual attention to special needs is 
imperative. Do the best we may, there is a period, all too 
long, when the mechanics of reading keep the child l)ack, — 
far behind his intelligence. 

Phonic analysis is carried far enough to be of use to 
the child in correct enunciation and as a means of discovei- 
ing the pronunciation of new words, but no farther. The 
letters of the alphabet are not taught until the beginning of 
the second half-year, when they are taught in their order. 
The children know them by name long before this usually, 
but it is useless to require the alphabet to be memoi-ized 
before we begin using it in alphabetic spelling. The script 
charts, especially pi'epared by the teachers, are used eai-ly 
in connection with blackboard work. In making the tran- 
sition fi'orn script to print, the two foi'ms ai-e placed 
together and the change is made without loss of time or 
energy. After this the usual Reading Chai-ts may lie used, 
or better still " stenciP' charts, made and illustrated by the 
teacher. The words now selected and used on chai-t or 
blackboard arc suggested not only by the subject matter 

100 



presented, l)iit also by the i-eading* book to be placed in the 
hands of the children later. 

When the first reading book is introdoced at the 
beginning- of the second half-year, the child finds the first 
part of the l)ook a delight, because the words are ali-ead}^ 
familiar to him. To secuie this familiarity with words we 
use many varieties of drills. In addition to the charts and 
blackboard, a box of letters is often given to the child to 
construct sentences; written and printed cards containing 
easy sentences, or stories are given to be read, and after- 
wards .reproduced from memory. In all drills, howevei', 
the thought element is uppermost, and the child is encour- 
aged "" to tell " the stor}^ in his own childish way. As a 
rule the child appreciates the thought of the lesson and Avill 
give the proper vocal expression without instruction in 
punctuation. During the first half-year, he will need 
simply the ]jeriod and the comma, the ^ question mark " and 
the wonder mai-k." During the last half of the school year 
the children will easily master the ordinary first reading 
book, and one or two supplementary readers besides. 

Much of the skill acquired in reading depends upon 
the subjects selected for our reading lessons. From the 
first, the work foi- any day, week oi* month is unified. The 
work is so planned that it forms an organic whole. By 
this organization of the work and association of ideas, the 
interest is stimulated, aud the child will more readily retain 
and recall the facts presented. With increased interest 
and enthusiasm, there is also increased mental activity, and 
even mechanical drills are enjoyed. During the first weeks 
of school even, a stoi'y, a fable oi- a poem is used as a cen- 
tral theme, not onl}^ for the reading, but around which we 
gi'oup all the other lessons of the class. In the selection of 

101 



these central themes, we take into consideration the child's 
environment, and the different seasons of the year. 

The first lessons seem naturally to cluster around 
natnre study. Only those who have told the stories fur- 
nished by good old Mothei* Mature can know of the delight 
children find in this suliject. In autumn, when the children 
enter school, there are fruits and grains and grasses to 
interest us; we note the change in the trees and leaves as 
they put on their bright autumn dresses, and watch with 
keen delight Dame Nature's preparations for approaching 
winter. Of all things dear to the childish heart,, color is 
the dearest, and when the bright leaves of red and gold are 
brought into the school-i-oom, eveiy face betokens pleasure. 
After talking about the shapes of the leaves, their colors, 
and what trees gave them to us, we di-aw them, and 
perhaps have a color lesson; we then sing " Come, little 
leaves," and listen to the story of the "Anxious Leaf." 
Aftei- this, the children are eager to learn more, and the 
words necessary to tell the story of the leaf are mastered 
without drudgery. 

Winter also furnishes us with scores of interesting 
themes, around which we group and arrange our work. 
And when springtime comes, especially in oui- Southland, 
how many delightful themes IsTature brings us! (Iladh^ 
the little ones gather the first spring flowers, and lovingly 
they bring them into the school-room. How wonderful the 
lessons taught, — how lasting the impressions I'eceived! 
There is a story for every little flower, and a beautiful sen- 
timent for every leaf, and these stories and sentiments find 
a lodgement in the children's hearts forever. Many of 
these flower stories are written on the blackboai'd in words 
simple enough for the children to read, and fi-oquently they 



102 



will find time to write them and carry them to the home. 
Will they ever forg-et the story of the ^' moss-rose,'"' or the 
little -^forget-me-not story?" There are likewise stories 
for the violet, the daisy, and the dandelion, and other 
flowers that are dear to the heart of childhood. Original 
flower stories told by the childi*en are written by the 
teacher on the blackboard and read by the children. 

There are also many little flower poems that are appro- 
priate and simple enough for reading lessons. After black- 
board lessons about the violet they will eagerly read and 
memorize the little gem : 

"Oh, violets tender, your shy tribute render, 

Tie round your wet faces, your soft hoods of ])lue, 
And carry your sweetness, your dainty completeness, 
To some tired hand, that is longing for you." 

Or, less advanced pupils will i-ead tlie more readily: 

" And just as many daisies 

As their soft hands can hold, 
The little ones may gather, 

AH fair in white and gold. 
Here blows the warm, red clover, 

There peeps the violet blue, 
Oh, happy little children, 

God made them all for you." 

These stories, poems and songs in connection with our 
flower lessons, inspire the little ones to master the other- 
w^ise difficult and tedious process of learning to read, and 
above all they develop a spiritual atmosphere that domi- 
nates the school and permeates the home. 

Spring gives us another interesting central theme that 
is especially appropriate for reading as well as other exer- 
cises, — the birds. We have a "Bird Week" during which 
we talk of birds, their colors, songs and habits; baby-bird 

103 



life and bird-families. Stories and beautiful })oeiii.s about 
birds furnish many a profitable and interesting reading 
lesson. Indeed, we cannot crowd into our " Bird Week" 
all the stories, poems and songs that suggest themselves, 
and if we are '""very good" we are allowed to continue the 
work in the " saved time " period of the next week. 

But along with our " nature stories," myths and fairy 
tales, we must not forget the historical and biographical 
stories that are suggested by our national holidays and 
other interesting occasions. What delightful lessons we 
have about Thanksgiving time or Christmas, when the 
interest is keen and the enthusiasm is kindled! Our work 
table is easily transformed into the little village of 
Plymouth; a bucket of sand, a few twigs and log cal)ins, a 
boat for the Mayflower, tiny dolls to represent Governor 
Bradford, Miles Standish, John Alden, Priscilla and the 
other characters of the story, and the scene is complete. 
The story is readily grasped and the new words are mas- 
tered with ease, regardless of their length. 

Then there is the story of Hiawatha, loved best of all 
by the children : 

" Ye who love the haunts of nature ; 
Love the sunshine of the meadow, 
Love the shadow of the forest, 
Love the wind amonjx the branches." 

Yes, the children love these things and never weary of 
learning the story or di'illing u[)on the words. To them, 
as well as to the teacher, the work is a " joy forever." 

104 



READING IN THE CHICAGO NORMAL SCHOOL 

Flora J. Cooke. 

Formerly " Cook County Xoriiiair 

III the Chicago Xorinal School there has been no fixed 
method of teaching reading. This does not necessarily 
indicate that the work in this line has been haphazard and 
unimportant in the eyes of the teacher. 

On the contrai-y, it is a problem so far-reaching and 

difficult that we must still look to the future for its satis- 

factorij solntion. Yet we have reason for our faith and 

encouragement to continue in the course which we have 

been pursuing. 

The child-study movement has aided us. The experi- 
ences of earnest educatoi's and even fanatics in this field 
have not been disi'egarded. In almost every established 
method of teaching reading, as the phonetic, word, and 
sentence methods, thei-e is exercised some fundamental law 
of mental action. 

It has been most helpful to analyze these methods. 
In each, one finds some principle so exaggerated and 
focused in strong light by tlie unqualified approval of 
its originator, that its value can be most easily seen and 
appreciated, but it is in the application that we recognize 

105 



the limitations and dangers of even the best of these 
systems. 

Let a teacher attempt to follow, to the letter, any of 
these so-called snccessful methods, and she invariably fails 
nntil she discovers some stimnli which react npon the will 
power of the children. They mnst first desire to read. 
After the desire is awakened a child will learn l)y any 
method, with or Avithout a school. lie will find a teacher. 
Tlie line of least resistance which he instinctively follows, 
the economy of time and efibrt exercised by a child who is 
teaching- himself to read, is the best school of observation 
which we have ever fonnd. Yet the service to the child of 
the right teacher cannot be over-estimated. She can 
nnderstand his instinctive efforts, and snpplement and aid 
him by her knowledge of the laws of association, interest, 
fatigne, etc., and npon her choice of material will largely 
depend his early reading habits and tastes. She is, too, 
often needed to counteract the false sentiments which 
over-anxiety and pressure in the home cultivates in 
children. 

Very often their first desire to read is secondary to 
another motive — the desire to gain praise or reward from 
teacher or parents, or even to escape punishment. But in 
any case, all who have watched little children learning to 
read, will agree that success is in direct i-atio to the in- 
tensit}^ of the desii-e — as measured l)y the child's willing 
effort and growing satisfaction in his woi'k. 

Finally, then, while we acknowledge gratefully that 
we have received valuable help from many sources, we 
have found our most potent guide in this work, in actual 
experience with children, and, after an honest consideration 
of what seems to us to be the natural normal attitude 

106 



tuwai"d i-eading- of children, who are fi-ee from overstrain 
and pressnre in the home and school; after trying to decide 
concerning the effect and inflnence which reading has 
exercised npon children, after patiently trying to judge of 
its possibilities and place in the child's life — we present 
the following synopsis of our present working plan in con- 
nection with reading, and some of the reasons which have 
led to its adoption. As such, its results, while far from 
the ideal, are certainly encouraging. 

1. Our iDorhing hi/potliesis is that the children may 
learn to read as naturally as they learn to talk and for 
exactly the same reason: i, e., from the desire to find out 
something or to tell something. Therefore, reading has been 
used entirely as a means of image-growth and expression. 
Considered from the child's standpoint the learning to read 
has been incidental to some other work in which he has 
been interested, as manual training, literature, nature study, 
etc. The mastery of the mechanics of reading and writing 
has been made essential to the children both in the s'aininof 
of desired ideas and in their expression. Thus the children 
have added their motive to that of the teacher, and both 
have worked directly to the same end. 

The course of study has been determined as far as pos- 
sible ( in our present state of enlightenment or ignorance ) 
from considering the natural and hereditary interests of the 
children and what seemed most essential to their best 
development. A¥e have freely used their social and physi- 
cal environment as the natural laboratories and storehouses 
of materials, believing that contact with real things, such 
things as have in all time inspired our poets, artists, and 
inventors, belongs to every child by right — a direct 
inheritance from the Creator and inspired humanity, and 



107 



their enjoyment of this legacy i« ample reward for the 
extra exertion of the teacher. 

Our question is, the place of reading in this course of 
study. 

The old law asserts that — " The child must first gain 
a vocabulary." " He must mechanically repeat words and 
idioms until they are functioned." This dead process has 
been for years sugar-coated with pictures, lately with most 
artistically colored ones. It is now taking the form of the 
action game. 

The action game certainly has a place in the child's 
life. It is good in so fL\r as it is an unconscious incen- 
tive to closer observation and bodily control. There are 
no games which children enjoy more keenly than those in 
which they act out something — vai-ying from the simplest 
exercise to a complex stoiy — while the class tries to guess 
what is represented. The written descriptions of birds, 
flowers, etc., are equally valuable and enjoyable, and his 
interest helps him to overcome many obstacles in reading 
and writing. 

Again, there are necessary things to be done all day 
long, where the teacher may use the blackboai'd foi- giving 
directions, utilizing this form of the game. 

But why waste the effort and energy of the children in 
an endless — " Close your eyes," " Open the window," 
"Roll the sphere," just because the action will hold their 
attention V As a metliod of teaching reading, it seems to 
me that it must take its place as a merely attractive wa}' of 
2-ettino- the old-fashioned mechanical drill on words and 
idioms. We have all recognized the law that color and 
action are to children the " ignition points " of interest in the 
objects around them. Are we not ready for the next step? 



KKS 



//. Gaining the necessary repetition of words. AVe 
believe that there is a legitimate repetition of words inher- 
ent in the stndy of any subject worthy twenty minutes of 
the children's time. Surely there is color enough and 
action enough in doing things of relatively permanent 
value to them. The following illustration in one line may 
make this point clearer : Tlie child comes daily into con- 
tact with the same things in zoology, botany, geology and 
meteorology. The same Avords come constantly into use 
as he watches and asks questions concerning the things 
which attract him. For instance, for explanation and 
expression concerning the movements of the common 
animals, as the birds, insects, fish, horse, cat, dog, etc., 
one set of words is demanded, as fly, crawl, swim, run, 
etc.; for describing their coverings another, as feathers, 
scales, hair and fur; and other words and several idioms 
arc necessary in considering their food and homes. The 
little child cannot go far into the details of animal study. 
He does not care to analyze except for one purpose — the 
nnderstanding of something which he wants to know. A 
forced close analysis kills interest as does the repetition of 
facts which he already knows, as "^ The rabbit has two eyes," 
'-' The leaf is green," etc. How, then, can he get the neces- 
sary repetition ? It comes naturally if he is allowed to 
come into contact with real things. For, as he cannot go 
fai" into the minutiae of animal study, he turns to something 
else, perhaps his interest or his teacher takes him into the 
region of plants. He finds here the same familiar animals, 
dependent upon the plants for food, or, if he works in his 
gai-den, he --ees the use of the soil to both plants and 
animals, and he comes gradually, incidentally and through 
-simple experiments, to notice how all depend upon heat and 



1(19 



light and upon each other for existence. It is all one 
thing and it makes no difference where the child begins if 
the teacher knows what he is doing and follows him. 
Worlcing with the same things again and again innst bring 
about the repetition of the same words, and his different 
standpoint of observation (for he meets these same things 
in stories, in Mature, in different phases of industry, per- 
sonal and social), and the constant changes in the things 
themselves continually demand new words, so that the 
child's vocabulary grows naturally as his mental images 
expand. 

III. The teaclmig of 7iew ivords. These have ])een 
selected because of their necessity in written expression as 
usually they have already been in the child's speaking 
vocabulary. Their presentation has also been of immediate 
use in impressing more strongly the work in hand. The 
nature of the lesson, a story, or an experiment, has deter- 
mined the details of the presentation of the words, but the 
plan has been in general, as follows: As a material or object 
was used, and the child told what it was, its name was 
written upon the blackboard, that the child might associate 
the written form with the thing at the time of greatest 
interest. That word was usually not again used orally 
during the lesson, the teacher pointing to the written word, 
or writing it, every time the thought demands its use; but 
the strongest impression was made by the child's own 
expression. They had perhaps been examining the soils, 
and the teacher asked, "^ Which soil shall you use for your 
garden ? " The children all passed to the blackboard and 
answered " sand " or " loam," according to their choice. 
This was a record and was used as such in the work that 
followed in finding out which soil ivas best. During the 

110 



first lessons the children have expressed their thoughts, 
when possible, in one word, later on in full sentences. 
From the first, full records were made and used. During 
or after an experiment, the children told what was done 
and discovered, and the teaclier wrote their statements 
upon the blackboard, and thus they pictured the experi- 
ment over again, step by step. If they had mastered the 
necessary written forms, they passed directly to the black- 
Iward and told what they had, what they did, and what 
they found out. These statements were often copied by 
the teacher and sent to the printer. In the reading lesson 
which followed, the children's motive was to see if all had 
found out the same thing. In this manner drill was 
obtained which was justifiable in the foct that it was 
incidental to some result, for which the children felt an 
immediate use. It will be seen, that while writing and 
reading have each had a distinct place and purpose in all 
the Avork, the one sup])lements and reinforces the other. 

IJ. Words which have no intritisic meaning, as con- 
junctions, definite adjectives, prepositions, etc., have been 
generalh^ functioned by use, but they have received special 
attention whenever individual children have seemed to need 
it. Drills of this kind were understood in a common sense 
way, as means to a definite end, and the time of the entire 
class has not been wasted upon forms which were already 
in automatic use by many of the children. 

V. The me of the didionary. To make the children 
independent in the use of words, it has proved a good plan 
to allow each child to make and index a simple dictionary 
in which he placed the written and printed words as fast as 
he became familiar with them. One period each week was 

usually devoted to this work. The words thus functioned 

111 



and J3lacecl in the dictionaries would probably average 
about three hundred during the first year, and they did not 
differ to any gi-eat extent from the words in an ordinary 
"first reader." 

VI. Phonics. The work in [)honics has been, during 
the first part of the first year, entirely distinct from the 
woi'k in reading. Its pui'pose has been to give the child 
the independent power of associating certain sounds with 
certain forms in the most economical way; to strengthen 
his vocal organs and so lead to clear enunciation and good 
pronunciation. 

The work has usually been given in the form of games, 
which have brought in nuich exercise in slow pronuncia- 
tion, the guessing game with lists of rhyming words, many 
Mother Goose ditties and lythmic poems. We have not 
used the diacritical marks exce])t in special cases, until the 
children felt their need of a real dictionary in the third grade. 

VII. The necessity of selecting reading for small chil- 
dren. We all believe that a teacher's chief work is to bring 
children into contact with good things in nature, literature, 
art, and society, in such a way as to constantly increase 
their interests, expei'ience, powers of influence and oppor- 
tunities for free expression. We do not believe that we 
make good reading help enough in this work. In primary 
grades, while in many cases the quantity of ready material 
is abundant, it is not carefully selected, or vai-ies in style. 
For convenience we have classified our reading material 
under five headings. For instance, a lesson may place 
before the children for their consideration, their various 
experiences and observations in a subject. 

Something new should always come to the children for 
such a review. 

112 



Note. — The following lesson of this type came alter 
a month's work upon watei-, where the pnpils tried to 
purify water for drinking by filtering, boiling, etc. They 
had used the water which they had brought home from a 
lake, swamp, etc., and this lesson tested their powers of 
inference by giving them a new standpoint of observation. 

Water. 
Example 1. 

We played we went out on the ocean. 
We had no water to drink. 
We were very thirsty. 

Some one said, "Let us get water from the ocean." 
We did this, hut the water was salt. 
It made us more thirsty. 
Carleton said, "Let us strain the water." 
We (lid this, but the water was still salt. 
Donna said, "Let us hoil the water." 
A\'e did this, but the water was still salt. 

Hans said, " Let us catch the vapor from the water upon a 
piece of glass." 

We did this : the water was fresh. 

How do you think we got enough to drink ? 

{¥) It may give data or useful information. 

XoTE. — This lesson came after Christmas w^hen the 
children had had four months' observation upon stones, in 
connection Avith other things. One child brought some 
quartz and insisted that it was glass. If there had been a 
glass factoiy within reach we should have visited it. As 
there was not, the information was, with the help of 
pictures, given to the childi"en in the form of reading 
lessons. 

113 



Glass. 
Example 2. 

Men make glass of quartz, sand and lime. 

They jjut sand and lime in big clay jars. 

They melt the sand and lime in the tire. 

Then it looks like molasses. 

They jmt a long tube like a horn in the soft glass. 

They can \)\o\\ it into shape with this. 

That is how men make glass bottles and vases and lamps. 

Henry was almost right, was he not? 

Quartz is not glass. 

But glass is melted quartz with lime in it. 

(c) It may be a simple plan of work, concise and 
clear. 

Note. — The children need abont six months' work in 
which the blackboaixl is nsed as a medium for dictation 
before they are ready for the lesson below. In this case 
they had made a plan for a box and knew its nse. The 
teacher said, "I have a plan for one which will take less 
])aper. See if yon can make it.'' Each child was supplied 
with materials and allowed to follow the plan. 

Measuring Box. 
Example 3. 

Take tlie cardboard. 

Make a 4-inch square. 

Place a dot 1 inch from each corner on each line. 

Connect opposite dots. 

Cut out the one inch square in each corner. 

Find the four small rectangles. 

Fold them ujjward. 

Always keep the lines inside the box. 

How lonof, wide and hish will the box be? 

How many cubic inches will it hold? 



(d) It may be a good or beautiful desci-iptiou of 
something within their own experience. 

Example 4. 

We came early in the springtime. 
Children love us very much. 
There are many, many of us. 
We are happy in the sunshine. 
We are happy in the shade. 
We look like gold in the grass. 
After awhile we look like silver. 
We are short when we are young. 
AVe grow tall as we grow older. 
Once I wore a yellow dress. 
Now my children dress in laces. 
Soon the wind will take my children. 
Then I shall l)e bald and lone!}-. 

Or (e) it may be an educative story. This last type 
needs no illustration, 

VIII. The reading recitation. This, of course, does 
not follow a fixed plan. Sometimes the children have read 
silently, each a different thing (perhaps very simple and 
short), and told the class what they have found out. 
Often they h:ive read silently and expressed the result in 
drawing, after which the expression was judged by the 
oral reading of the story represented. 

As in oral readmg the sole motive should be to arouse 
in others some definite image, it is very necessary in the 
beginning to get this i-eading attitude right. Therefore the 
reading lessons where the entire class i-ead the same thing 
have been largely cut out of the first year's work. When 
they have read aloud they have had a different storv^, para- 
graph, or sentence, so that th'jy felt the necessity of making 



115 



themselves understood. Of course there are exceptions to 
this rule. 

Finally, Avhile we know the ditticulty of getting good 
reading for little children, Ave would have every rending 
lesson which is put into chihlren's hands oi- written u])on 
the blackboard stand at least the three following tests: 

(a) That it be so satisfactory to the child that its 
reaction shall l)e a greater desire to read. 

(b) That it makes an appro] )riate demand for good 
reading hal)its and good taste. 

(c) That it contains an image worth a child's effort 
to get it, i. e.j that it has some intrinsic value either in the 
snbject mattei- which it presents or in tlie emotions which 
it is capable of arousing in the children. 

116 



Mm 7 1905 



LIBRARY OF CONUKtss 



019 843 573 9 



